Karma Police
by glaube
Summary: Epilogue! [AxY, YxA, KxO] Aya and Ken reflect on how things have worked out after Kreiger's downfall.
1. Echo of Angels

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Chapter 1: Echo of Angels**

::Youji's POV::

When I woke up in the hospital roses were next to my bed; fresh red ones, and I picked them up, fingers softly brushing the petals. That's when she came in; a nurse, whose nametag read Asuka.

The name struck a resounding chord in my soul, and at a time when I remembered nothing, that chord was all I had to go on. Trying to remember more simply made my head hurt. But the red roses were fascinating, such a beautiful color of crimson, and my fingers danced around the thorns with practiced ease. Wait a minute…practiced?

I returned my glance back to the nurse, and it struck me that she was pretty; not exceedingly beautiful, but pretty all the same, and I shot her a smile that felt just as practiced as my fingers missing the thorns.

"Who are the flowers from?" I had asked. 

"Me," she said, with a nervous smile. "I hope you don't mind." 

"Not at all. May I call you Asuka?" 

By the end of the month, it occurred to me that I knew two things about my previous life. I'd handled a lot of roses. And I'd also handled a lot of women. 

When I was healthy enough to be released from the hospital she insisted I pick a new name; and I chose the one that first came to mind. "Ran." I had told her, watching pretty eyes widen in surprise. 

"Ran?" she repeated. 

"Yeah. Do you not like it?" I had asked her. 

"No. It's fine." She reassured me; and I smiled. 

And that's the story of how Ran married Asuka. 

The doctors warned me that I might experience flashbacks and headache; if I ever got rid of this damned amnesia; and the dreams began about a month into our marriage. I know what they meant about flashbacks; but I can't say anything for the headache. For these were all pleasant; slender, pale hands caressing my skin; a pair of lips that faded from irritated to amused before I got to kiss them; waking up in the morning next to a lean-bodied swordsman… wait a minute. Sword? MAN?! What the hell!? 

But the dreams didn't go away. If anything, they got more intense; and at one point I saw the eyes; stunning amethysts, purple, so orchid-like. I woke up at that point with his name on my lips. 

"Ran." 

But that begs the question: If he's Ran, who am I? 

**::Ran's POV::**

I used to think that someday Youji and I would get out of this buisness, and live somewhere in the countryside with Aya-chan; that's the mistake I made when I fell in love with him: believing in a happily-ever-after. Kritiker was unwilling to tell me where he was; but years of being an assassin had left me with some ties, at least; and I discovered he'd been hospitalized. I was afraid to go by the hospital; afraid to see him in a coma like Aya had been in for so many years. Looking back, it was quite selfish of me; because I showed up too late. 

Kudoh, Youji. Amnesia. 

I think that's worse than Aya; when she woke up, she knew me. He never will. I'm not foolish enough to have hope. But I went to go visit anyway, sitting next to his bed while he slept, saying quiet good-byes. He told me once that he wanted to forget, and I wasn't going to be selfish enough to take this opportunity for freedom away from him. A nurse came in, rather plain looking; and I glanced up at her name: Asuka. 

"Sir? Do you know this man?" She asked. 

I didn't want to answer her question. Yeah. I knew Youji. As much as you can know a person; and more. So I silently stood and walked past her, and out the door. 

"Sir? Sir!" She asked, obnoxiously, catching up to me and grabbing my arm. "What's your name?" 

"Ran." 

I sigh, shaking off the memory. Something about that woman made me uneasy, with her overbearing attitude and obnoxious curiosity. I should have stayed; but I don't think I could bear to have Youji open green eyes and not have them flash with the warmth of recognition I used to see on the mornings when we woke up together. Yes, friends, you heard it here first: Fujimiya Ran is a coward. 

"He's also a coward who has a mission tonight, so he should get over it in a hurry." 

My new boss; who's alias is Calico. I wish they'd lose it with the cat names. I change the locks to the door on the apartment every week and she still manages to come in unannounced. 

"Fuck off, Cal." 

"Chatty as always, I see." Says the woman pleasantly, handing me a folder, and not waiting for a reply. She won't get one and she knows it. "This week's target is retreival; your job is to rescue Shiro Ran." 

Youji's picture falls out of my folder and from the floor emerald green eyes stare up at me. It's recent; his hair is longer, as all of it fits into a ponytail now, but it's still my Youji, with that damned smirk, golden skin and playful green eyes. The irony hits me a moment later; he probably chose his name; and what'd he come up with? Shiro, white, Weiss. And Ran. Me. I find a sort of sick comfort in the idea that the past is inescapable. But he looks happy in this picture. 

"And what if I refuse the mission?" I ask after a moment. If Youji is happy now then who am I to take that away? 

"Then he will die." 

I turn suddenly, staring at Calico, eyes narrowed angrily. 

"But not by Kritiker's hands." She reassured me with a smile; although I still felt ready to whip out my katana and shi-ne her right into a resting place beside Takatori. She took the folder and opened it to another picture; the picture of Youj—Ran's wife, Asuka. 

"Shiro Asuka; better known as Yuki Midori, is an agent for a rival association called Kreiger; who does experimentation with drugs on patients at local hospitals. Her job is essentially to keep him from remembering Weiss; it'd be hazardous for them if he found out she was distributing illegal materials, and as long as he feels protectiveness towards her; she's even safer. And it's been this way for several months; but our informants say that Midori's reported that he shows signs of memory recovery. Dreams, mainly, that she observes in the middle of the night; or the way that he pauses in front of places while they're out in Tokyo. Our informant think she does care for him; Abyssinian. She seems especially unnerved when he buys orchids. If you can retrieve Balinese, it's possible he could recover his memory; and then, with two of our best assassins back, we could move on Kreiger."

"Why do I get the impression there's an ulterior motive here?" I asked; although I really had no choice; if Youji's life was in danger, I was going to accept the mission whether he was happy in his fake marriage or not. 

"Because there is." Said Calico with a sweet smile. "Kritiker doesn't like having its assets stolen by the other kids on the playground." 

"You'll excuse me if I don't escort you to the door and wish you a good evening." I said simply; and Calico helped herself out, heels clicking on the wood floor. 

I don't get much sleep that night as it occurs to me that tomorrow is probably going to be the first time I see those emerald eyes open, alive, in months. And it's going to take every ounce of control I have not to knock Youji to the ground; call him a bastard for forgetting and leaving me alone in this miserable existence, before kissing him senseless. 

Yeah, that's right. Kissing. Him. Senseless. You can't be in a relationship with Youji for long without having him start to rub off on you. Even if it is in the wrong way sometimes. 

**::Youji's POV::**

Asuka and I celebrate our six month anniversary today; and I leave early from my job as a construction worker to make sure to get home in time for the two of us to celebrate; you see, she's promised me a gift that, judging by the tone of her voice, is pretty special, and Shiro Ran doesn't turn down kinky sex. Still, despite the rewards promised by the evening I find my mind wandering to my dreams; they've gotten more vivid – last night's was particularly bad; featuring myself and the beautiful redhead whose name I know, instinctively, to be Ran, in something that would probably make porno stars blush. Like I said, Shiro Ran doesn't turn down kinky sex. I can't help but play some of it back in my mind; and it occurs to me that this mysterious redhead from my dreams is far more beautiful than my wife and a whole lot more talented…and then I berate myself from thinking such things. This redhead is from a life that I've forgotten and can't remember; Asuka is the now, the present; and I love her. 

With that thought firmly implanted in my mind I enter our house. We eat together; she's made a nice meal, and I'm sure to compliment it and the dress she wears, routine nothings that feel practiced. Like I've said them to other women before. Many, many other women. Something tells me I never said things like that to Ran; but that's because along with the mystery of this dream man comes an aura of danger, the feeling that he'd kill me for such sweet nothings, especially if he knew I didn't really mean them. Asuka, however, doesn't seem to notice, in fact, she is pleased. 

After dinner we skip straight to dessert; and I don't mean the dessert that you eat with forks, heading off to the bedroom like giddy teenagers fumbling through ecstasy. We tumble to the bed and I prop myself up on my hands above her; she is, after all, fairly slender – and I can't help but think how this is definitely different than leaning against a smooth, hard, pale chest. No, dammit, this is my wife, and by god, I'm in love with her. I lean over to capture her lips with my own and she breaks it off quickly; faster than usual, with a giggle.

"Not so fast, Ran…I still have to give you your present." 

She rolls me over with strength I didn't know she possessed; but then again, she is a nurse. So maybe she's gotten used to it with patients or something, straddling my hips and stripping me of my shirt before going to work on my pants. Ran is forgotten momentarily; after all, I'm about to get laid and have other things on my mind – particularly, the bulge in my boxers. It looks like Asuka's going to take care of that though; in a few moments my boxers are gone and much to my surprise, her mouth surrounds my shaft.

"Asuka.." 

I murmur; but she winks up at me, and then that talented tongue goes to work. I close my eyes and focus on the feeling, but behind my eyelids dances a similar situation; a quirk of thin, pale lips before my redhead goes down; and although my fingers are really running through Asuka's hair, I'm thinking of soft crimson strands that smell like lavender and feel like silk. 

Her mouth is smaller than his; he could take me to the hilt. And he knew exactly what to do; this is her first time, I can tell by the way she's sort of fumbling around, it's guesswork. But who am I to complain? Anyway, my body has a mind of its own and soon I find my hips bucking slightly to meet her mouth, and I open my eyes to meet her own in the darkness. She's smirking; she thinks she's doing a good job. In the dim moonlight, though, she seems pale; it casts a violet shade to her eyes, and the traitorous word escapes my throat unintended; I couldn't help it; on the edge of an orgasm it seemed so natural to tumble out of my lips.

"…Ran…"

**I haven't checked this for errors guys, but I hope to get another chapter up tomorrow. Enjoy. And review, please!**


	2. Like Shots in the Dark

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title. Blah. my last chapter had a lot of errors in it; sorry guys... x_X

**Karma Police: Chapter 2: Like Shots in the Dark**

::Asuka's(Midori's) POV::

"Ran."

He says; says this Kudoh Youji who doesn't know who he is. I choke; literally, sitting up to run to the bathroom to spit and wash out my mouth. He takes it as a sign of anger; the only smart thing he's done tonight, and falls back onto the bed with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair -- the nervous gesture that I know now, after 6 months of living with him, means he knows he has a lot of explaining to do. Why can't he just forget? I didn't want it to come down to this. At first it was a job; but I had wanted it to be more than that. So very foolish, Midori; so very, very foolish. My hands are shaking when I come out of the bathroom and he sits up, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Asuka.."

Says the brunette softly and I turn, eyes narrowed on him as I reach towards the drawer of my nightstand, opening it slowly. He watches me curiously. Fool. All those years of being an assassin and he doesn't know what's going to happen next. My voice is as shaky as my hands as I pull out the handgun and point it at him.

"You bastard."

His emerald eyes widen, in shock, in betrayal. But no. He betrayed me when he chose that...that Ran bastard...over me. I am the victim here! Not Youji.

"Asuka."

He says again, in that pleading tone. My eyes narrow again; I want to hear my name off his lips.

"Asuka's dead, sweetheart. My name's Midori."

Confusion now, in those emerald orbs, and he's so helpless; a truly declawed kitten. I raise the gun, aiming right for the eyes, I don't want to see those unblinking emeralds gazing back at me. I see no fear in them and this irritates me; only confusion and betrayal, hurt, even. This is what you get, Kudoh Youji, for making poor choices.

"So remember it when I send you to hell."

**::Youji's POV::**

Everything happened so quickly; as I stared up at the gun and the woman determined to end my life. Midori. Asuka. Midori. Asuka. Then who is Asuka? So many questions, and all I can think is that it's a bloody shame I'm not getting any answers before I die.

"I can't let you do that."

Comes a voice that I recognize as being vaguely familiar; a soft, cool baritone, from the window, and I glance up to the silloutte there in the moonlight. His head is down, and when he looks up as she spins to glare at him, stunningly beautiful violet eyes become visible, set in a pale, cold face, the epitome of a stoic. I gaze at him and realize there's something else there. Hurt. Although he's trying to hide it, it's there all the same. From a maze of confused thoughts comes his name, once again: this is Ran.

"Ran! Watch out!"

His eyes widen in surprise as he stares back at me, and I realize that my usage of his name has been a poor distraction. Asu--Midori lifts her handgun once again and fires, but not before I've run forward and tackled her.

**::Ran's POV:: **

Years of practice have made me a silent, stealthy attacker, and it's not like the Shiro home was all that difficult to infiltrate. Lights go on and off in the second story bedroom window and I pause, watching two shadowy figures pass across the window; lips locked, bodies taut against eachother. I know I don't have much time tonight, but I do take a moment to pause and collect myself. Even though he doesn't know what he's doing, it still hurts to see him with somebody else. Youji. My Youji.

That thought is all it takes to set me in motion again though; he is _my_ Youji, and I'm here to get him back tonight. So I silently climb the tree, thankful that they have no household pets, and wait for the opportune moment, peering through the window. Some agent she is, if she can't notice the big shadowy figure in her tree right outside the window. I'm surprised Youji hasn't noticed, either; but he's a little occupied. He says something that makes her angry and she storms into the bathroom; and I take the opportunity to climb over to the window sill, clinging against the edge of the roof right next to the window when she comes out of the bathroom. When I look in again, she's got the gun, and is delivering some sort of angry woman speech. I carefully open the window, just in time to hear her proclaim her intention to send Youji to hell.

"I can't let you do that."

She spins in fury, although if she had been smart, she would've shot him first, and then taken care of me. Hell hath no anger like a woman scorned, or something, though; I'm the cause of her troubles, and I'm sure she'd love to make me bleed. Sadistic bitch. Youji's sitting up now, and I do my best to ignore him and focus on the task on hand.

"Ran! Watch out!"

My eyes widen. Ran. He knows my name is Ran. Oh god. If I was more like Omi, I'd probably be doing backflips and running outside to scream that the world is sunshine and butterflies, because Kudoh Youji knows my name. Then it occurs to me that a shot's been fired; and almost instantly afterwards said shot pierces my shoulder.

Wait a minute. Youji's tackled her. Oh god. The world is now sunshine, butterflies, and rainbows -- because Youji remembers enough of me to think that I'm worth saving. She was aiming, after all, for the heart. Stupid woman; I gave that away a long time ago.

**::Youji's POV::**

Asu--Midori lets out a scream of frustration and fury when I knock her down, the gun slides out of her hand and across the room. For some reason I keep reaching for my wrist while we fight, and since there's nothing there, it's an obvious disadvantage, and a pain in the ass. Of course, I shouldn't have expected Midori to fight fair, she flips us over and knees me in the groin, standing up to go after Ran, who has recovered enough to head for the gun. Cheap. Shot. I groan in pain, rolling over, and watch the two of them from the floor. Ran gets to the gun first, but Asu--Midori, grabs the wound in his arm and makes him drop the gun. Rather than let her get to it, he spins quickly, sweep kicking her legs, and takes off for it. This time he beats her to it and has enough sense to throw it away before they start brawling again, across the room, towards me.

What does he expect me to do? Shoot my wife?

She's punched that wound again though, and her slender hands encircle his neck. I find myself getting to my feet, watching Ran struggle, and tears form unbidden in my eyes. The flailing of his arms has slowed; he'll die soon. I can hardly see, my vision's so blurry, but I stagger against them and press the gun to the back of Asuka's head. She was going to kill me.

"Let go of him." I say simply. Asu...Midori sneers.

"This bastard took you from me. He's going to die."

Ran, depsite the fact he's being choked, manages to cough out a few words.

"You can't keep...something... that doesn't...belong...to you..."

"He wouldn't kill his own wife."

She sneers, and I pull the trigger. Midori's body falls limp against Ran's, and I sink to my knees in sobs.

"I just did."

Another fact pops out of my cloudy memory and I realize this is the third time I've killed Asuka. 

**::Ran's POV::**

I roll out from under Midori's body, clutching my shoulder as I stand. I want nothing more than to take Youji into my arms, and kiss those tears away; but this is a mission, and that shot will alert the neighborhood. I force an emotionless mask on, hoping that someday he'll understand.

"Get dressed. We need to go."

He turns to look at me, shoulders slumped in defeat. Here is my Youji; but he's in pieces, and it's going to take so long to get them back together again. Like putting together a puzzle made out of shards of glass. He gets to his feet, but now he's shaking, it's been a long night for a man who thought he was Shiro Ran, construction worker, who had a happy marraige with his wife, Asuka. Confusion still whirls in his emerald orbs.

"She was going to kill you."

I point out helpfully, as I head to the closet to retrieve some clothes for him, tossing out a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"Who are you?"

He asks quietly.

"You said it yourself. I'm Ran."

"Who am I, then?"

"Kudoh Youji."

**::Youji's POV::**

Kudoh Youji.

I get hit in the face with a pair of jeans and slide them on with something of a scowl. I've had dreams of this redhead where his eyes light up for me, full of warmth; where his slender lips quirk into smiles just for me. Now, though, I've been presented with a cold, emotionless bastard, who's throwing my own clothes at me. I catch the shirt and yank it on and for just a moment amusement flickers in his beautiful eyes.

"You have a lot of questions."

He says simply, and I nod, raking my fingers through my hair.

"Come with me, and I'll try to help you find the answers."

I stare at him, and realize it isn't a command. Ran is offering. He came here for me, but the choice is mine. This night has been a nightmare though, because of him; because Asu--Midori hated him...because I loved him.

**::Ran's POV::**

Despite the mission's statement being for me to get Youji and bring him back at all costs I have no intention of forcibly kidnapping him. It is an offer; and he can choose whether he really wants to forget or not. After a moment, he nods; and I start for the stairs, heading down to the street where my Porsche; the thing that comes third in my life, right next to Youji and Aya-chan, is waiting in the moonlight. I climb in and he gets into the passenger seat before looking over and fixing me with a piercing gaze that I am helpless to resist.

"Ran..."

He murmurs, and my attention wanders to those oh-so-attractive lips. Damn him.

"We were lovers once, weren't we?"

**::Youji's POV::**

It's a question that begs to be asked, so as I climb into the seat of his Porsche and run my fingers over the leather, I turn to stare at the redhead, gathering courage to say what I wanted to say.

"Ran...We were lovers once, weren't we?"

His entire body goes tense, it locks up, and something in those beautiful eyes flares up and blazes before he manages to shut everything down and regain his stoic mask. The car zooms off down the empty street.

"Yes, Youji. We were."

**Hit that review button. You know you want to! ^_^**


	3. Pieces of the Puzzle

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Chapter 3: Pieces of the Puzzle **

::Ran's POV::

I don't bother lying to Youji when he asks if we were lovers, and he falls silent after my response; the rest of the ride back to my apartment is quiet. Upon pulling into a parking spot I glance over and realize that the brunette has fallen asleep, and it's no wonder, with all the emotional stress he's been through in the past hour. It's nothing compared to what he's going to go through, though, if he gets the rest of his memories back. I'm not sure I'd want to find out I was an assassin. And I will not tell him, either, these are things Youji must find for himself.

I poke him in the shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. Well, what do you know, Youji hasn't changed much -- the bastard's deeply asleep and there's no way in hell anything I could do right now would wake him up. It's going to take all the strength I've got to carry him up my stairs, especially with this wound on my shoulder.

But I do so without complaint, and somehow the burdened is lessened, because for the minutes it takes me to get up the stairs, I get to hold him again.

Bah. Ran Fujimiya is starting to sound like a sentimental, romantic, babbling old fool. And it's all Kudoh's fault.

"Bastard."

I murmur, getting us inside before depositing him in my bed in my room. This wound needs to be looked at.

**::Youji's POV**

I have always been a man who likes naps, but this one was cut short. My dreams of late have all been admittably about the damned sexy redhead who came to my rescue tonight; but not now. All I can think of was my finger on the trigger; Asuka, Midori, whatever the hell her name really was, falling to the ground in a heap.

What I can't get over is the fact that I don't care.

The way it seemed so natural to kill. To eliminate something vile. Now, however, I am ill -- what sort of man shoots his wife?

I should ask Ran, I decide, so I reluctantly open my eyes and realize I'm not in the car anymore. To the contrary, I'm lying on soft black sheets in a relatively plain room. I roll over, face pressing into the pillow, and catch the gentle scent of lavender. Must be Ran's shampoo. I sit up and notice two pictures on his nightstand. One is of a young girl who seems slightly familiar but not overly so; and the other is of the two of us, although I don't recognize myself at first -- my hair is longer now.

My eyes catch on Ran in the image, and so does my breath -- he's smiling, gorgeous, happy even; and I've got one of my arms wrapped around his waist, grinning. I may be good looking, in fact, I'd certainly go as far as to call myself handsome and charming; but ran is exotic, stunning, untouchable. How lucky we must have been. I run a finger down his figure in the picture before setting it back on his nightstand. There's a light coming from the door on one side of the room and I stand, going to check it out.

It's the bathroom, and Ran is alone, in front of the mirror, trying to patch his wound. Blood stains the pale, flawless skin; the shot is in an awkward spot so he won't be able to patch it without help, even though he'll try. For a moment I find myself picturing that white, marble skin contrasting against his black sheets, but shake the thoughts from my mind. I don't even know who I am.

He grimaces, having trouble with the bandage, and I step forward, placing a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

"Let me help with that."

I offer, and he jumps in surprise, before silently considering the offer, which he accepts with a nod. I take the washcloth and clean the room, before applying some antibiotic ointment from his first aid-kit. Once again Ran takes the pain like a true stoic, an occassional flicker of amethyst eyes the only indication of any sting the medicine is causing. But I am sure to be extra gentle; carefully bandaging the wound, my fingers brushing over his smooth skin as I tie the cloth. He's got a lot of stuff in that first-aid kit that not even all hospitals would have; and I decide to try to find a little more out about the mysterious redhead.

"You always rescue brunettes and get yourself shot?"

He turns towards me, blinks, and then shrugs.

"Hn."

Well. I guess that means he doesn't want to talk about it.

**::Ran's POV::**

Hn is a wonderful word. Or is it a syllable? Anyway, I've always found it highly useful, especially like now, when Youji's just asked me a question and I don't know the answer because I was too busy thinking about the feel of his fingers on my skin. In fact, I don't know what he asked. I tune people out more than you'd think. When I've escaped the closeness of the bathroom for the relative safety of my room, I decide it's safe to actually talk again; for a moment there, I really thought I was going to turn around and initiate something we'd probably regret later. I want Youji to remember who he is and was; I want him to know that I loved him despite all of that.

"You've had a long day. You should get some sleep."

I say, pulling on a shirt as he steps out of the bathroom behind me. I get the feeling he's watching me do so; although previously, it used to be him watching me take said article of clothing off, instead of on. In typical Youji style he ignores my suggestion, picking up the picture of us from my nightstand. I'm embarassed by it, actually; to have a picture of someone on your nightstand is like a schoolgirl crush, or at least, he could interpret it as such, especially without his memory. He sits down on the edge of the bed and motions for me to do the same, which I do, reluctantly.

"We look happy in this picture. You have a nice smile."

He comments, and I incline my head slightly in acknowledgement, muttering something under my breath.

"What'd you say?"

He asks, and I feel my face heat up.

"You're one of the few people to have seen it."

I reply, and that's enough sentimental mush. I need to get out of this room, and away from him long enough to gather my senses. I move to stand but Youji catches my wrist. His quick reflexes seem to be intact; and he gently pulls me back down.

"I dreamt about you," he explains. "Little things, like what you look like when you sleep; and us...making love, but the sheets were green silk --"

"Yours." I interrupt calmly. "I still have them. They're boxed up." 

He continues, "-- all the little things that mattered. And when Asuka, or Midori, whoever she was, got ready to kill us tonight, I realized I wanted them back. Tonight was horrible, Ran. My whole world's completely upside down, but I'm glad I remembered you."

"Me too." I answer, when I realize he's looking for a response. Green eyes settle on me for a moment.

"Why didn't you find me sooner?" He asks.

I sigh. "Because you wanted to forget."

"Forget what?" He asks, and I realize that this is going to be the most difficult thing I've ever had to do. I have to give Youji back his pain. I excuse myself and head to a closet in the hallway, where all of his belongings are in boxes, and pull out one of them, taking an even smaller box out of the top. I walk back to my room and hand it to him wordlessly.

**::Youji's POV::**

He's brought back a box, a small one, like the size of a small book, and proceeds to stare at the wall like it's about to do something interesting. Obviously my questioning is making Ran uncomfortable, but I don't know what the missing piece of this puzzle is, and I want to find it. Curiosity killed the cat, they say, but cats have nine lives... ((A/N: oh the irony))

I open the box and inside is a watch, a nondescript, plain, ordinary watch. Ran's eyes have turned reluctantly to me now, and I wonder what the big deal is as I slip it onto my wrist. A perfect fit. And somehow it feels so natural, resting there. Okay, so he's given my back my watch. Big deal. I feel like I'm missing an important point and I stare down, wrist resting in the palm of my other hand, and suddenly it dawns on me -- this was the wrist I grabbed for when fighting Midori; and not just at random -- with a smooth, practiced motion. Closing my eyes, I mimic the movement, and wire runs smoothly across my fingertips. I gasp in surprise and Ran flinches; as I stare down at the wire a series of images runs across my mind -- me, in gear not so different from what he wore earlier tonight, strangling a woman as tears flow down my face. Neu. Asuka. The real one; or at least the shell of the real one. The tears are not only in my flashback; my cheeks are wet, and I turn my head away.

"You're...I'm...we're assassins."

No wonder it felt so natural to kill her. I'm a killer.

His head is bowed and Ran falls silent for a long moment, before reaching over to gently turn my face towards him, free hand wiping away the tears that have spilled over for my first love; the real Asuka, the one Midori took advantage of while trying to keep me from remembering this, from remembering Ran.

"I'm sorry, Youji."

"Sorry isn't good enough, damnit."

I snap, knocking his hand away, although I don't know why. I don't hate Ran.

"It's been a long night." He says, cold mask firmly back in place. "Get some rest."

It's an order now, I can recognize it by the tone of his voice and the blankness of his face. But hurt rests in those eyes; what I've said must have stung, especially after the trouble he went to while trying to save my life tonight. He stands to leave; I suppose I've made him feel unwelcome, and for the second time this evening, I catch his wrist.

"Stay."

It's all I can say, a quiet apology for my selfish behavior. "Sleep with me."

**::Ran's POV::**

"Sleep with me."

Says he, and I'm sure I'm blushing now. Sleeping with Youji was rarely sleep and more of an adventure. His green eyes widen when he realizes what he's said.

"No! Not like that."

Well, damn.

I hope he doesn't sense my disappointment, but he goes on to explain himself once again.

"Look, Ran, don't get me wrong. I think you're damned good looking. For one thing, you've got a nice ass,--" typical Youji, but if we're talking about asses, then I should mention that his is pretty high-quality, "-- but for another, you're quite possibly the most stunning person I've ever met. You're beautiful." He's called me that before, and I can't help but smile, although if he had ever tried it in front of our other teammates I would've kicked his ass. "So, like I said, don't get me wrong, I'd love to screw you out of your mind. But I don't remember much about us and I don't want to take advantage of your feelings."

I snort. "Who says you'd be screwing me?"

Youji's eyes widen and for once he's the one to blush. I chuckle at that, and he glares at me for a moment before pulling both of us down on the bed, having apparently decided that now is definitely the time to sleep. We lie side by side, and I stare up at the ceiling, feeling oddly content, just because he's back.

"My sheets were more comfortable."

Says he, after a moment, and I snort again.

"Maybe; but your room was a bloody mess."

He turns out the light, and that's the last thing I remember before falling asleep. Mission reports can wait until tomorrow.

**::Youji's POV::**

I know I fell asleep next to Ran, but somehow, in the morning, when I wake up, I'm sprawled out across him on his side of the bed. Fortunately for me, he seems to still be asleep; I can't see his face since my head is tucked under his chin, resting gently on that smooth, broad chest, one arm flung across his abdomen and legs tangled in his own. In other words, I'm using him as a giant human pillow and it feels fucking perfect. He's got an arm around my waist, the other, folded up at the elbow, has fingers tangled lightly in my hair. It takes me a while to realize that those slender, elegant digits are playing with my hair, absent-mindedly twirling the strands. I raise my head and much to my embarassment discover that Ran is awake, looking down at me with an expression of amusement.

"You're awake."

I tell him. Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Yes."

He notes, kindly affirming that fact for me.

"How long?"

I ask. He smirks. "Four hours."

I glance down at my watch. It's 10 AM, so he's been awake since six and hasn't bothered to disturb me.

"Comfortable?" He asks with a wry smile.

"Extremely." I reply, and much to my delight he doesn't take his hands away. In fact we stay that way for at least another half an hour, before I hear a door swing open, heels clicking across his floor; and then his door opens to reveal a woman staring at the two of us.

"ABYSSINIAN!" She starts in, and then stares at me in shock. He gazes up at her with an impassive, unreadable face, and she flushes red, thinking she's interrupted something.

"Hello, Calico." He says calmly.

"Abyssinian, the objective was to retrieve Balinese, not kill Yuki Midori and then proceed to sleep with him."

Cat names? Oh well, I'll go with it. She seems mad at him and she's kind of cute when she's mad.

"Oh, but it was good sex." I assure her. "I think we were at it until about four this morning. Ran's stamina is as good as ever."

"Five, Youji." He says calmly, as if this was a real fact. I shrug.

"Really? Five? I guess I lost count after the fourth time.."

By now Calico's face is as red as Ran's hair, and she stares at him. "Abyssinian, you will report to the kitchen to explain yourself in five minutes." And then, she storms out, slamming the door.

"Abyssinian? Balinese? Calico?" I ask.

"Codenames." He says, rubbing fingers through my hair playfully. Ran seems to be in a good mood in the mornings, while I'm more of a night person. Carefully he untwines himself from my embrace, leaving me alone in the bed as he heads for the kitchen.

**::Ran's POV::**

I slept better last night than I have in months; although I woke up intially, when Youji's body found its way to mine sometime after midnight. I saw no reason to disturb him; the man had a hard day and could use some comfort. Besides, it gave me an excuse to accidentally put my arms around him while he slept; and those four hours this morning before he woke were absolute bliss. Of course, Calico shattered that, which is why I didn't mind playing along with Youji's round of teasing. She deserved it, for interrupting that little slice of heaven. I report to the kitchen as ordered, and she immediately launches in on me.

"One, Abyssinian, you know it is standard procedure to file mission reports after the mission has been accomplished to let us know of your health and your wheareabouts as well as the mission's results. Two, you were not ordered to kill Yuki Midori, and now, thanks to that idiotic mistake, Kreiger knows that Weiss may come back and will boost their security. Three, I can't believe you'd be cheap enough to take advantage of a man with no memo---"

A tan hand clamps over her mouth. 

"You're pretty, but you talk too much." Says Youji lazily, stretching as he releases her, shirt sliding up to reveal his tan abdomen. "One, I asked him to stay with me last night, which is why he failed to file whatever mission report you're talking about. Two, Yuki Midori would've killed me and him, and I'm the one who shot her, so why don't you let me deal with the guilt for that one. Three, he didn't take advantage of me, I've known about my situation with Ran for months, I just wasn't sure he existed."

"How much do you remember?" Calico asks sourly.

"Not much." Replies Youji.

"I suggest you hurry it up then." She says coldly, "Or Kreiger will make you wish you had been killed by Midori. Since they're worried Balinese will recover, Abyssinian, staying in Tokyo is not an option for his safety. You two will go to Villa White."

"What about Siberian and Persia*?" I ask.

"Persia will reevaluate your situation and decide if bringing back Siberian is advisable. It would, however, be hazardous to reinstate Bombay, for obvious reasons. I suggest you pack. I expect better from you, Abyssinian."

Youji shoots her another miffed gaze. "Hey, I'm back, aren't I?"

"Not to an extent where you're useful, Balinese. I suggest you show respect for your superiors." Says Calico icily, and Youji whistles as she leaves.

"A woman in authority!" He teases with a grin. "Can I have your number?"

And the only response is Calico slamming my door. I can't help but smile. Villa White. A vacation with just Youji. Nevermind blessings in disguise; that's a bloody miracle.

((A/N: Ran inquires Persia instead of Bombay, since Omi's acting as Persia in this fic; if he deemed it neccessary though, Omi would return to the team as Bombay.))

**And now, for my lovely reviewers:**

Vampire Louis: I agree; I like AxY because of the chemistry, and because I love Youji. *pets him.* Hopefully school work won't bog me and this fic down so that you'll continue to find it enjoyable.

Silvermaiden: As soon as I can, barring evil schoolwork, which makes my writing craptastic. *shudders*

Honoo Moeru: I'm an Asuka hater; what can I say? I couldn't leave it with him marrying her and popping out lots of little Youji's and Asuka's. Little Youjis are cool. Little Asukas are not. But yeah, he's had a rough day. I actually haven't seen all of Gluhen, so I'm trying to dodge some details. x_X; damn people who ruined the spoilers for me though, lol, although it enabled the writing of this fic.

Chibi-chan v2.0: Once again, I'm an Asuka-hater, lol, so she was doomed from the beginning. And that's doomed with a capital D. Don't worry, Yotan will get his happy ending!

I'd like to mention that when I write this fic, I'm thinking of their original appearances; because I like them better. Although a braid does seem somewhat elegant and I can picture Aya having one, and Youji bleaching his hair if trends said it was sexy, I just don't like them quite as much; plus all the other characters are horrible. So, with that said, it's post Gluhen with pre-Gluhen looks. Spiffy.

HIT THAT REVIEW BUTTON! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! And seriously guys, let me know if this starts to go downhill; I don't want my excess homework to negatively influence my writing. Thanks! ^________________^ - glaube. 


	4. A Welcome Vacation

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

_FF.net readers: The NC-17 version of the chapter can be found at mediaminer.org: copy and paste the following: ._

**Karma Police: Chapter 4: A Welcome Vacation **

::Youji's POV::

"Who is she, exactly?" I ask Ran when Calico storms out. Pity, she had such nice legs.

"My new boss." Replies Ran smoothly as he looks over at me. He seems to realize that's not enough to answer the question and continues. "When you...When our team disbanded, I switched divisions. So you wouldn't have met her before. She brings information from Kritiker to me, like Manx and Birman used to do for us."

I shake my head. "Sorry, Ayan, I don't remember all of this."

His eyes have narrowed, and I wonder what I've done wrong. "What?" I ask. He sighs.

"Unfortunately you haven't forgotten that damned petname." He growls, and then points to a closet down the hall. "Your crap is in there. I'll loan you a suitcase and then I suggest you get packing."

What damned petname? I just called him Ran...didn't I?

Oh wait. I didn't. What's this Aya thing, then?

**::Ran's POV::**

If there was one thing I wish Youji could forget, it's Neu. Not Asuka, just Neu. With the sadness of Asuka, Youji found maturity and wisdom. If there were two things I could make Youji forget, he'd also never call me Ayan. Sadly, I am not God. Hn. He shoots me a strange look and then heads off the hallway with a sigh, pulling his boxes out of the closet, beginning to shuffle through them. I stay in the doorway to watch him, the way his fingers drift through the unfamiliar items; the way he peers at them trying so very hard to remember. It occurs to me that the same picture I have on my nightstand is in one of those boxes and I watch as he pulls it out and stares at it again, before a slight smile quirks his lips and he sets it aside, apparently intending to bring it along. That satisifies me somehow and I head into my own room to pack, before poking my head out the door.

"Pack light, Kudoh." I growl at him. He'll think I'm a jerk. Good, then. He'll never see this surprise coming.

**::Youji's POV::**

You know, I was looking at that picture of us and starting to think that it was actually conceivable that this redhead and I were lovers once. And then he poked his head back out into the hallway, barking out an order, and I decided it was absolutely impossible. Obviously, I was still in a coma and this was all a fucked up dream.

We leave when we've both finished packing; Ran locks up the apartment and heads down to the porsche, silent and cold as always, before we speed off down the street. I realize to my irritation that we're not leaving Tokyo, and that damn bastard has something of a smile, albeit a tiny one, on thin lips. Kudoh Youji is not stupid.

"Where are we going?" I demand after a while.

"Hn." He replies, flicking the radio on to some classical. Well, Ran Fujimiya, fuck you, and fuck your hns. Keep your bloody secrets.

We pull into a storage lot and he pulls in front of one of the garages, silently handing me a keyring with two keys on it, then gestures to the door. I stare at him for a moment, finding that damn hint-of-a-smirk quite irritating and fight the urge to either slap it or kiss it right off of his face, before snatching the keys to the garage and shoving it open. Light shines in on the car for the first time in a long time and I can tell it hasn't been driven in a while.

"...Seven."

I stare back at Ran, and he smiles at me for real this time; and for a moment that feels like forever, I'm lost in the glory of that smile.

"Your car, Youji. I thought you'd like to drive it." He says, and he's already taking our luggage out of his porsche. I step inside and fire up the engine, running my fingers over the smooth leather of the seat, and another vision of the two of us flickers in my mind. Holy shit, did we have sex everywhere? This is insane. Still, I'm not about to tell Ran what memories of him I do have, and I pull out of the slot to give him room to park the porsche there so he can lock it up while we're on vacation. He climbs into the sideseat with feline grace and gives me the directions to Villa White.

**::Ran's POV::**

If there were three things I could make Youji forget, it would be Neu, the name Ayan, and how to drive fast. He loved Seven, though, and I can tell he's happy to be driving his precious car again. Although I still like the Porsche better. I think we make it to the Villa in record time, and I get our bags as he heads inside. It's hot, a warm summer day, and the afternoon isn't even over yet, but I think it might rain later -- this is the sort of sticky warm weather that can often come right before giant summer thunderstorms. The idea doesn't bother me; I hate warm weather because I don't like to wear shorts or short-sleeved shirts, and I love the rain. There is redemption and cleansing in rain. After a moment I head inside to follow Youji, who is already flopped out on the couch.

"Not bad, Ayan." He says with a lazy grin. I can only presume his intention is to nap. Lazy idiot.

"Yotan." I retort in annoyance and head off down the hall to see where he put my stuff. The first bedroom is empty, the second is also empty, as is the third. My fingers are shaking somewhat as I open the door to the fourth, and find that Youji's put both of our bags in the same room, like it wasn't a big deal at all. I stand in there for a moment to collect myself before heading back to the living room, where that lazy bum has fallen asleep on the sofa. Hn. I see he's found his sunglasses. And he's smirking in his sleep. I stare at him for a moment before I go to retrieve a blanket from one of the other rooms and drape it over his napping form. 

**::Youji's POV::**

A loud crash of thunder wakes me up a few hours later and I jolt upwards from the sofa, staring around. The room's dark and I untangle myself from a blanket that I didn't recall falling asleep in.

"Ran?"

I ask, and I wander around to the room I put our stuff in. He's unpacked our things, but other than that he's not to be found. I'm about to head out to my car to go driving to search for him when a pale figure catches my eye through the rain crashing into one of the windows. Quietly I open the front door and step outside to stare, it's pouring down rain, and the redhead is outside practicing some form of kenjutsu, although he doesn't have his katana, eyes narrowed in intense focus as his body movies with a smooth, alluring sort of agility; a natural grace that could only belong to Ran. He's taken his shirt off, a t-shirt that's been flung towards the door and I realize is at my feet; his pants are soaked -- as is his hair. And I can only stand and stare at the graceful, pale figure and his strange dance in the rain.

It is, quite possibly, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

**::Ran's POV::**

I love thunderstorms; and when this one hit, I couldn't resist the chance to go outside and enjoy the rain. It helps me focus, and with Youji around, focus is one thing I certainly have a hard time maintaining. I don't know how long I've been out here; I just know that eventually my shirt got so soaked it was actually slowing me down; so I took it off, and now the cool droplets strike and caress my skin simultaneously. I get the feeling I'm being watched, and I slowly turn back towards Villa White. Youji's approaching me, and our eyes meet as he heads out to meet me in the rain. Such beautiful eyes, with their emerald hue; and today, to my surprise, they're half-lidded and hold something I never thought I'd ever get to see in them again. Desire. I relax my stance as he approaches, moving to meet him halfway. I'm not exactly sure either of us know what the hell we're doing, but the next thing I know, our lips are locked in a warm, slow dance of tongues; and my arms are around his waist, drawing him impossibly closer. Youji's fingers travel up my bare back, familiarizing themselves with old scars, relearning the contours of my spine, and I can't help but shiver; although if he asked me why I'd blame it on the rain. He draws away, breathless, and shoots me that same-old-smirk.

"Let's go inside, Ayan."

And this time, I decide to let the nickname slide.

**::Youji's POV::**

I hadn't even realized I was walking towards him until it occured to me that my shirt was completely soaked in the thorough downpour. And I didn't have time to consider the fact that my feet had moved without an apparent order from my brain, sent me straight into Ran's arms, where I found myself kissing (and being kissed) senseless. I was dizzy when we finally broke it off but managed to smirk. So this was the Ran of my dreams; an outside of ice and an inside of fire..

"Let's go inside, Ayan."

**::Ran's POV::**

I am all too happy to oblige with his request, letting the much hated petname slide by unnoticed this time as we fumble inside and fall together to the bed; what followed was something I have waited months for and thought I had lost forever.

Sometime later, Youji curls up against my chest with a wide smile.

"What are you grinning about?"

I ask; and he smiles.

"We skipped dinner and went straight to desert."

And even I have to smile at that.

**::Youji's POV::**

There are no words to describe what just happened; the way our bodies moved together so perfectly -- the way Ran's touch set me on fire, but there's one that's close. Incredible. Holy shit. No wonder even without my memories, I still dreamt of Ran, of us. I don't know how I could have forgotten. I kiss him again, because I want to, and because I can, before glancing over at the clock. I hadn't paid attention to how long my nap was, but the afternoon has passed, and so has dinner, really; it's 8 PM. Too early to sleep, but I don't want to leave this bed. Ever. We lay there, still, enjoying the sound of rain on the roof; Ran has his eyes fixed on the window and I know he's watching the storm. There was some sort of beautiful co-existence between him and the rain.

"The first time we ever kissed was in the rain."

He says after a moment, and I smile; about to reply, because I have so many other questions to ask, but a car pulls up outside. Ran tenses, and I see the warmth fade from his eyes, the stoic mask returning. "Get dressed." He says, tensely, getting out of bed and yanking his pants back on as well as picking up the katana resting in the corner. "And don't come out."

He leaves the room and I roll my eyes. To hell with that, oh-fearless one. So I roll out of bed and get dressed, tiptoing out in the hallway while Ran goes to the livingroom, prepared to face and assumably kill whatever danger it is that has just found us here. The handle on the door turns and swings open, revealing a short young man with blond hair and wide blue eyes. Ran relaxes, and I assume it's safe to step out into the living room.

"Persia."

He says smoothly, and the young man stares at me.

"Youji-kun!" He cheers before launching himself at me, a bundle of cheerfulness and smiles and youth. I probably shouldn't tell him what Ran and I were doing before he got here, then, and I let myself be glomped, looking down at him and then over at Ran for help. My lover seems to have no intention in supplying me with the brat's name though, but suddenly I grin triumphantly.

"OMITTCHI!"

I cheer, and he pouts. Ran's typically small smile widens, as he heads towards the kitchen. "I'll start dinner." He says. Omi smiles.

"There's no need, Aya. I brought takeout."

Aya? I look up at him, questioning for a moment; and his eyes meet mine. I don't have to ask, and I don't have time to -- I know I'll get an explanation later, and the chibi is too busy bombarding me with questions about how much I remember.

How strange it is, to have your life completely turned upside down and be...completely and utterly happy about it.

**A/N: Wow. Didn't want that to happen yet, but yesterday was absolutely crappy, so it sort of just came out. Ken's coming back in the next chapter, and after that the plot is really going to start moving; it should answer a lot of questions. Reviews appreciated. ^_^ -glaube.**


	5. The River that Forgets

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

_Blah, the mediaminer link didn't show up gomen ne. At the end of this shindig I'm going to go back and fix all my verb changes to STAY IN ONE TENSE. Yar. x_X;_

**Karma Police: Chapter 5: The River that Forgets **

::Ran's POV::

Yohji settles back on the couch in a lazy sprawl, while Omi bombards him with all sorts of questions -- the answers to most of which are "no," much to his disappointment. I'm unpacking the food Omi brought when the door opens; much to all of our surprise, and in step two women. Yohji's eyes, angled down from his sprawl on the ground, suddenly light up in recognition.

"I know those legs...Manx!"

He cheers with a grin, and I restrain my annoyance, replacing it with a bemused smile. He's really starting to remember more than he thinks. Manx shoots an angry glare at Omi, which is echoed by Birman.

"Persia...with all due respects, you shouldn't be here."

"I appreciate your concern, ladies, but your suggestions are not necessary. I wished to see an old friend."

Omi says, and somehow, I can tell he's tired. The boy's grown up a bit on me, in the past few months; although I suppose it's not much of a surprise -- I left Persia's section of Kritiker when Yohji lost his memory to get away from the memories, which is why Calico delivers missions to me now. Less killing, more espionage. I can't say that I'm unhappy with the change although I miss my comrades. Birman and Manx both frown, before the redheaded woman retreats back outside and comes in with several bags. Birman's smile is something of a smirk.

"Then we're staying too, sir."

Well shit. I guess this means Yohji and I won't be having any more fun tonight. Omi decides the proposition is fair and inclines his head in agreement, and as I watch him I realize there's something not quite right about his expression. A sort of loneliness. That's when it occurs to me that I haven't been the only one alone all this time -- Ken left Kritiker completely, and he had always been Omi's best friend. In our own ways, Yohji and I both left our youngest kitten to fend for himself.

**::Yohji's POV::**

Ah, Redheads. My favorite by far. And Manx's legs are nice, although I've never liked the socks. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks they're great though; as she and Birman tend to gravitate fairly close to eachother. Interesting. The only thing that has me convinced that Ran hasn't made me completely gay is the idea of the two of them...

However, I'm knocked out of those thoughts when Omi asks me another question. I realize with a bit of embarassment that I haven't been paying attention and glance over at Omi...Persia. It doesn't seem right to call him that.

"You're not Persia."

I point out suddenly. "Persia had wider shoulders." I accuse. Omi shoots me his first genuine smile of the evening.

"You're right. I'm Bombay."

This statement makes Manx halt in the hallway as she heads to deposit her suitcase in one of the rooms, before she heads on.

"Abyssinian, Balinese, Bombay..."

I murmur. There's something not quite right yet. Omi frowns thoughtfully, a somewhat sad curve to innocent lips, a loneliness in his eyes.

"And Siberian." He says. But before I have the chance to ponder that idea, Ran interrupts.

"Dinner's ready."

**::Ran's POV::**

I eat dinner in relative silence, listening to my old teammates talk amongst eachother, hiding a smile at Yohji's attempts to flirt with Manx, which seem to annoy Birman. Omi participates happily in the chatter, apparently glad that around us he can let up on his role as a manager and just be himself, and my thoughts wander again to the chibi. Taking over for Persia means he must have accepted himself finally as Takatori Mamoru, although I know he will always insist having his friends call him Omi. Oddly enough I am the opposite; almost everyone calls me Aya, and only she and Yohji are privledged enough to know me as Ran. If you could consider it a privledge. Anyway, Omi's handling more responsibility than ever, and his decision to allow Ken to leave Kritiker must have been hard. Yes, our little kitten has grown up.

When they are all finished I move to gather the dishes, but Omi stops me.

"Ne, Aya-kun. I didn't come here just to see you two."

I sigh. "I know."

Birman coughs loudly, interrupting Yohji's latest lame pick-up line. "Let's go into the living room." She suggests. "We'll discuss this in there."

So we file in. Omi brings a chair from the kitchen table for himself to sit in, Yohji sits on the couch and pulls me down next to him, an arm slung lazily behind my shoulders much to my satisfaction and annoyance; Manx takes a seat in our other chair and Birman perches on its armrest. Cats, indeed.

"It was never my intention to involve either of you after we brought back Yohji," apologizes Omi, "But Kreiger has moved faster than we expected because of Yuki Midori's death. They're certainly up to something."

Yohji sighs. "What exactly does Kreiger do that's so bad?"

"Well," Omi begins, "They're doing medical experimentation; as of late we're concerned about their use of --"

I cut him off. It suddenly seems so clear. "A brainwashing drug."

"Hai, Aya-kun." Omi says, although he seems puzzled. "How did you know?"

"It seems obvious to me," I explain. "Yohji 'fell' for Yuki Midori with surprising speed; and his relationships with women are typically not long term. What happened with her was highly uncharacteristic." I murmur, silently adding 'and he forgot me' at the end of that sentence as something Yohji probably wouldn't do. "Not to mention his memory seems to be surpressed, not completely lost. When he comes in contact with familiar items and people he regains it with surprising speed, uncharacteristic of someone with true Amnesia."

The others are staring at me like I've just spoken more words than ever before in my life. Oh wait. I probably did. Hn.

**::Yohji's POV::**

Ran's explanation does make excellent sense; that I would so easily fall for someone like Yuki Midori -- who was, at best, mediocre in bed -- instead of remembering my team and most importantly, Ran. Still, I can't help but fall into contemplative silence and reflect upon what happened, a quiet, melancholy ache. I took vows with Midori that I never got to take with Asuka, that society won't allow me to take with Ran, and she betrayed them. For whatever reason, drug or otherwise, she turned her back on the idea of love in general. What sort of woman would do that? And if I was drugged, then she prevented me from remembering Ran completely, another betrayal. Somehow now I don't feel nearly as guilty for her death. Ran elbows me in his own quiet way and I tune back into the conversation. Omi is talking.

"--so that's why I'd like to check Yohji's blood, because it's possible we may be able to administer a drug to counter the damage done."

Manx nods at this pearl of wisdom. "If Yohji has been given the drug, then the test-antidote Kritiker is developing will help him be able to resume active duty. Then the tw--"

She is interrupted by Omi. "Three." He corrects, and there is authority in his voice that makes that seem like it is final. "Three of us."

Birman and Manx sigh simultaneously. "The three of you can attack Kreiger's board of executives and destroy their lab."

Ran's face is a thoughtful frown, I can tell he's not thrilled about having to go on a mission. In truth, neither am I. Although I don't know who the hell Siberian is, I do know that Weiss had four members. And three does not equal four.

"Omi," I murmur, shooting him my best charming smile. "I'll give you a blood sample to test but I'd really like to have the night to think this over. Would you mind?"

"Not at all." Omi says, and I feel relieved. I can get some answers from Ran.

"It's getting late." Birman says, restoring a professional atmosphere. "If you insist on having some rest then we should all retire for the evening."

And this I can certainly agree to.

**::Ran's POV::**

Omi goes to bed in his old room while Birman and Manx take up residence in what used to be Ken's. I guess Birman didn't want to sleep with Manx in the room that used to be Yohji's. Crazy women. Yohji followed me in silence back to our room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Tell me about this Aya thing."

And so I start at the beginning, and wind up to Aya's release from the hospital. She's in college now, but it's still expensive. I couldn't keep killing in her name; another reason for my transfer to Calico's sector -- Kritiker now pays her tuition instead of the expensive hospital bills. For a brother who left high school to pursue revenge, it is the best I can do. I've never told her what I do completely; she thinks I am a spy for the Japanese government and that is good enough. When I finish, Yohji runs a hand along my cheek with a sympathetic smile.

"Ran."

He murmurs, bringing his lips to mine with a gentleness that we lacked before. I smile against his lips as our tongues begin a slow, exploratory dance, but when his hands sink towards my pants, I have to pull away. With Manx and Birman next door and Omi across the hall we simply can't, and I tell him that. Yohji smirks at me, heading to the bathroom adjacent to the room we share, turning the shower on.

"Then I guess you'll have to settle for showering with me instead." The blond informs me with that damn smirk, and I am all too happy to indulge him.

((A/N: I am not in the mood to write a lemon. We now proceed to the next morning.))

**::KEN'S POV (this is the first and only time this fic will be from Ken's POV)::**

I lean against a tree watching my kids practice; of the fifteen that make up the little team, fourteen are here, running drills against our goalie. They're good little kids and they have a lot of heart. Most will quit before high school, but there's one who loves the game like I do. He's not here today, but I'm sure he has a good reason.

"Hidaka-san! Hidaka-san!"

A young woman runs up to me and I recognize her as Ichiro's mother, figuring that she's come to explain his absence. I'm sure he's ill or some other good excuse, so I'm not sure why she's gone out of the way.

"Hidaka-san, I tried to contact you earlier; but there was an accident. Ichiro was in the hospital and he head a head injury."

I listen further, learning that the boy's woken with amnesia, and she breaks down into sobs. "The doctors gave him an expirimental drug to help him -- but he doesn't remember anything, Hidaka-san! You have to come see him!"

I numbly agree, trying to picture Ichiro in a hospital bed. Besides the fact that he loves soccer and has a lot of heart, the kid's got blue eyes; and I have a weakness for blue eyes. It hurts to think of him in a hospital bed. When practice is dismissed I ride the motorcycle over to the hospital, picking up a newspaper. Headlining the front cover is news that some company with a name I can't pronounce is about to get the drug they've developed to help people with severe head injuries recover, Lethe. I'm escorted into the room and I hand the scared little boy there a soccer ball.

"What is this?" He asks, normally bright blue eyes dulled. I'm seeing Ichiro and thinking of Omi. "Who are you?"

"Get well soon, Ichiro." I answer weakly, heading back out to the hallway to find the nearest phone. I have two calls to make, the first to his mother.

"Ah, Takada-san. What was the name of the drug they gave Ichiro?"

"Lethe," She replies, "Why?"

But I have already hung up; making the second call to someone I thought I would never see or speak to again. My best friend, who unselfishly let me return to a normal life. Persia.

Persia...the boy with the bright, innocent blue eyes; who has the courage to fight the bastards who do this to other boys with innocent blue eyes...Do not be confused, friends, Hidaka Ken is a coward. In more ways than one.

**A/N: I am happy with this chapter..for once. In explanation, Lethe is the river of forgetfullness in the underworld in Greek Mythology, thus the title. I would also like to mention that amusingly enough, the title of the next chapter comes from a level of Halo. XD -glaube. Guys, you've been really kind and extremely patient. Thank you so much. I am very honored.**

(ne, and if you haven't, go see the Last Samurai. T_T Thank you, that is all. ^^) 


	6. Reunion Tour

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

_I lied, guys, Ken's POV and Omi's POV will be used more than I thought. Don't worry, Aya and Youji will remain the focus of the ficlet ^_^;;_

**Karma Police: Chapter 6: Reunion Tour **

::Omi's POV::

It's nice to know some things never change. For example, Youji still thinks that having sex in the shower covers up how loudly he moans when he and Aya screw. While I'm glad that the two of them are back together and apparently happy, their happiness only serves to remind me how alone I am; and I spent much of last night lying awake even after the others have finished their extracurriculars. I got up earlier than Aya this morning and have sat at the kitchen table nursing a warm cup of coffee ever since; I'm sure if Yotan got up this early he'd still tease me for looking like a kid, but he doesn't realize how far that is from the truth.

Aya knows. Aya understands how alone I am. He felt the same way when he let Youji go.

With the three of us together again it's hard for me not to think of Ken and wish that he was here, but I try to push thoughts of the brunette away. He asked to go; said he _needed_ to get out, and I let him. Asking him to stay for my sake would have been selfish, so I let him go. I've gone to watch him practice soccer with the kids he coaches now on occassion, usually on my lunch break; parking at the edge of the park -- close enough to see him and be near him without actually being detected. He's never seen me, I know a reminder of the past would upset Ken deeply, especially when he's made such an excellent start in his attempt to move on and leave Weiss behind. Every now and then though, he'll get this look in his eye and glance over his shoulder towards the flowershop and smile. It is a smile that breaks my heart.

I am shaken from such thoughts by the sound of a phone ringing and it occurs to me that it's my phone. Odd. Very odd indeed. Not many people know that I'm out of the office. I pick it up and answer cautiously.

"Omi?"

Holy shit. It's Ken. I barely manage to gulp out an affirmative, yes, I'm Omi.

"I want back in." He says, and my world tumbles.

Should I let him turn his back on the happiness he's found to return to a life that was obviously destroying him?

"It's my choice." Ken says and I realize I've vocalized my thoughts. Crap. He sounds so serious, so grim, so dark; nothing like the Ken-kun I love and remember. Tired, even.

"You can't protect me from everything, chibi."

He's right. I can't.

**::Aya's POV::**

I wake from dreams of sex in the shower, the water dripping down Youji's beautiful golden skin, plastering his hair to his face, adding so much allure to an already perfect form; and can't help but smile. Whatever happens, I'm glad he's back. I lean over, laying a soft kiss against his collarbone before getting out of bed, pulling on some lose black pants and a plain t-shirt as I head down to the kitchen to make some coffee. Omi's already there, his fingers nervously playing along the rim of the cup. He looks pensive, and I head to the coffee maker to fix myself a cup and sit down at the table silently. Omi glances up at me, teeth worrying his bottom lip.

"Ken's coming back."

He says finally and I nod.

"Good."

He doesn't look convinced, but I am. Ken and Youji were always good friends; I know the brunette can help round out the missing parts of Youji's memory. But more than that, Omi needs him, and the little brat has been too selfish to admit it over all these years. Manx and Birman are the next to rouse, and I watch them in barely veiled amusement -- Birman's got something of a satisfied smile and Manx's disheveled hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail. It seems my assumptions about the two of them were on target. We decide to let Youji sleep as the four of us discuss details about Kreiger, or rather, they talk, and I listen while calmly sipping my coffee.

"I don't think we're going to learn anything just stuck here at Villa White." Omi says, and I resist the urge to scowl at the boy because I have a feeling that he's going to send us back to Tokyo. Damn. I was looking forward to a lot of idle days filled with Youji reteaching me all the wonderful ways to stay in bed on lazy afternoons...

"Don't you think it's dangerous to go back to Tokyo?" Manx has asked. "Kreiger is going to be on the lookout for Youji; especially now that he's back in our hands. They really had wanted him to stay with Midori and become attached." Right, Manx. We all need to stay here enjoying a lovely, lovely vacation.

"Youji is Weiss." Omi says firmly, not giving up, and I can tell by his stubborn pout that the rest of us are pretty much doomed. "It's not like he hasn't dealt with danger before." Well that irritates me. Sure, Youji's been in dangerous situations, but he doesn't remember any of them, so his experience isn't doing him a whole lot of good.

"You'll be putting him in a dangerous situation if we resume our jobs undercover at the Koneko and reinstate Weiss." I murmur. Part of this is because I like my job the way it is now, with little killing, but most of it is for Youji. He never liked being a killer. None of us did. I would love to protect him from ever feeling that guilt ever again. "He doesn't remember anything, Omi."

"He remembers you. And he's remembering more and more each day. If we discover Lethe in his system then we can administer the antidote and he'll have all of his memories back." Omi points out and I scowl.

"Why would he want those memories back?"

"Because they're mine." Youji says from the doorway, leaning against it with a lazy grin. He hasn't bothered with putting a shirt on and I would love to let my hands roam all over his flat abdomen, but to the other three sitting at this table, I am Aya. Calm. Ice.

Only to Youji am I ever Ran. Fire. Passion. Still, it bothers me that he would want such painful memories back when he has a tiny chance to be blissfully happy without them, with me. "I'm going for a walk." I say flatly, and head for the door.

**::Youji's POV::**

Silly, stubborn Ran. I watch him head for the door and shoot Omi a reassuring smile, followed by my most charming grin to both of the ladies. "Excuse me, ladies...and gent."

Ran can walk pretty fast when he wants to and I do my best to catch up to him in a hurry, grabbing his arm and turning him to face me.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." I say, and his scowl deepens into the familiar expression of irritation. I wait for him to speak because somehow I know that eventually he will explain himself, attempt to justify his somewhat childish behavior by proving that there was in fact a rational thought process behind it.

"I don't understand why you'd want to remember it." Ran murmurs finally, tense stance relaxing, and I know I've won him back over. "So much guilt and blood and pain."

I smile at him, and it's not a mask of a smile, but a real one. "Because I want to see why whatever I felt for you...whatever I still feel for you...was strong enough to overcome all of those things. I want to see how it held us together."

He seems satisfied with that answer so I lean down for a soft kiss, warm and gentle, when another voice interrupts us.

"OI! GET A ROOM!"

Ran stiffens and pulls away, turning to glare at the brunette for the interruption.

"Hidaka." He growls. "Shut up and get your ass inside."

Hidaka, eh? Apparently our merry troupe is now complete. The brunette looks like he wants to ask me a few things -- and I'm tired of answering that I only remember the basic concepts right now, so I'm pleased when he shoots Ran an irritated glance and heads inside. I turn to follow him inside, but Ran catches my arm.

"No." He says quietly, and I turn to question him and am silenced with another kiss.

**::Omi's POV::**

The door opens and I glance up, expecting to greet Youji or Aya, and instead, Ken steps inside. Our eyes meet, and then Ken looks away, almost as if ashamed. Well, I would be, too, if I had just made the choice to return to a life of killing.

"You can take the room across from Aya and Youji." I explain. It's next to Birman and Manx and diagonally across the hall from me. It hurts to talk to him so formally, but I don't know what to say. A younger Omi would have charged at Ken, hugged him, and exclaimed, 'Ken-kun! I'm so glad you're back!' But that Omi died with my real father, lost in a maze between two names: Omi...Mamoru. Bombay and Persia. I never really know which person I'm supposed to be, and Ken, strong, athletic, handsome Ken, would never want anyone like that.

He nods and heads down the hall, and I wait until he's out of earshot.

"Welcome back, Ken-kun."

**::Ken's POV::**

I step inside the door and face Omi's inquisitive eyes. Apparently he was not expecting me so soon, and was probably waiting for Aya or Youji to come back inside. He's taller, and looks a little less like a kid than the last time I saw him. This makes it easier to think about him; when he was younger and Weiss still really existed, Omi looked innocent and acted innocent, a striking paradox to his life as an assassin. Now he's older, and seems less naive, and I wonder if that maturity comes with his position as Persia. I realize a few seconds late that we're staring at eachother like idiots, and can't help but notice that the child-like roundness has faded from his face; but the big blue eyes are still there, beautiful as always. He's grown up to be quite an attractive young...

What am I thinking? This is Omi. I am Ken. Ken is a clutz and an idiot, Omi's intelligent and agile. It would never work.

The greetings of old friends are forgone and he tells me where I'm sleeping, and I feel an odd lump in my throat as I head back to put my things away. Hidaka Ken is the master of fucking things up, and I can't help but curse myself for ruining our friendship when I left.

When I get back to my room I put my things away with machine-like movements even Aya would envy, going through the motions before sitting on the edge of my bed to think. I left Weiss for my own selfish interests, because I couldn't handle the guilt anymore. Or at least I said I couldn't. But I wonder..

Omi bears the guilt of being a Takatori.

Aya bears the guilt of tainting his sister's name with the souls he's killed.

Youji bears the guilt of killing Asuka.

Really...was Kase too much to bear? I didn't stop to think of any of them, and turned my back on Omi at a time when he was struggling to justify his concept of himself with the darkness of his family. With Youji gone, Aya had no reason to stay -- I took the opportunity and ran; and I left my best friend completely alone. Now I'm back, but not to fight for him -- to fight for a kid who looks like him. Something about that isn't quite right, and I can come to only one conclusion.

Hidaka Ken is an ass.

**::Ran's POV::**

I keep Youji from going inside because I know that Omi and Ken will manage to completely screw things up and have an awkward moment, and I'm just selfish and smug enough to want to avoid that. Besides, he's got such lovely lips and is so talented with them, that it seems a waste to let them go unused.

I still wish he would choose to leave Weiss behind, but a small part of me is glad that he's staying. I won't be alone anymore. Even with Aya-chan back, I was alone -- I had no other training for any other types of work, and she went to college. Talk about a kitty in a corner. After a moment we break off the kiss and head inside. Omi's still at the table, looking pensive and upset.

"Something wrong, Chibi?" Youji asks, reaching out to ruffle Omi's hair the way he would have done months ago. Omi's reflexes are faster than he's used to though, and the kid catches his wrist. 

"Don't." Omi says quietly. "I'm not a child anymore. I want everyone in the living room in ten minutes for mission planning."

I nod, and he goes to his room to change.

**::Youji's POV::**

Damn, that kid's faster than I remembered. Ran watches him retreat back to his room, and then heads to the living room, glancing at me in what I recognize to be a silent request for me to join him. Ran's glances have always been able to tell me everything, I realize, although at first he hated it. I can tell now that he's worried about the kid, and decide to use this chance to get some more information about my fellow assassins. Ran takes a seat on the sofa and I watch him -- the way he sits always amuses me -- whereas Ken, Omi, and I tended to flop wherever and whenever we wanted, Ran has always folded himself into a chair with a certain noble grace. Anyway, he doesn't sit prim and proper for long because I stretch out next to him, resting my head on his knee, and out of habit his slender fingers weave through my hair. This is nice.

"What's wrong with the kid?" I ask.

"He and Hidaka were good friends." Explains Ran as I feel my eyes drifting shut from the gentle pressure of his fingers on my scalp. "Ken left Weiss after me; and it was an awkward split. I'm sure Omi just misses his best friend and that neither one of them are sure how to rebuild their friendship."

Well, you'd never guess it from his silent exterior, but Ran is damn intuitive. And sometimes...he talks!

The others file in later, and Omi begins to describe his plan.

"We're going to resume operations at the Koneko. Once we decide where the Kreiger executives are we'll pair up for stakeouts this week and probably complete the mission by next weekend. Manx and Birman will continue to retrieve information on Kreiger and Lethe as well as work with Youji for a possible antidote, if the bloodtests reveal he received the drug. If we go back today we can start the first stakeout tonight. Aya and I will go, followed by Ken and Youji."

**::Ken's POV::**

These aren't the standard pairs. Usually I work with Omi and Aya and Youji go together. The kid's avoiding me, not that I blame him, especially after that awkward moment in the kitchen. Aya voices my thought though.

"Why not stick with the standard pairs. Balinese and I will go together tonight and you and Ken can resume operations tomorrow once he's gotten back in the swing of things."

Omi knows that Aya has seen through him. "With all due respect, Abyssinian, I think your relationship with Balinese may impair your judgement."

"I assure you, Bombay, that will not be a problem. And in this case, before Balinese recovers completely, he is safest with me."

Omi hesitates. "It's Persia, Abyssinian."

"Not in Weiss." I say quietly. Omi's eyes narrow on me, and I think he mistakes my interruption for a challenge. I shoot him a weak smile. "In Weiss Ken and Omi used to be really good friends; and Bombay didn't mind working with klutzy old Siberian."

A little of that sparkle comes back to his blue eyes for just a moment, and he squanders it back down just as quickly. "I don't mind, Ken." He says quietly, and Youji shoots us all one of his benevolent grins.

"Good!" He cheers. "It's settled then."

Lazy bastard. Probably thinks he'll get to makeout with Abyssinian for the whole of the stakeout.

"Why don't we go first?" I ask quietly. "It'll give Manx and Birman a day to see about that antidote. I'd rather give Youji more time to recover, and if I can get my hands on these bastards.."

I stop myself from saying that they'll pay, but I know the others seem to recognize that I've got something personal invested in this. Ichiro looked up to me like an older brother, and an older brother wouldn't let such an outrage pass if he could help it.

I'll probably never tell Omi about little Ichiro; and how it was his eyes, Omi's eyes, that really drew me back...

**::Ran's POV::**

A few hours later we're all back at the Koneko, and I make Youji put his stuff in his room instead of mine because I think the familiarity of it may help his memory. Omi and Ken will go on the first stakeout of Kreiger's pharmaceutical distributing center in a couple hours, and I can't help but hope that they find something of use. The sooner these Kreiger bastards are out of the way, the sooner we can all try to go back to relatively normal lives.

I'm glad Ken spoke up in our meeting earlier, because even though I hope it won't be, this first stakeout is likely to be fruitless, and they could use the time alone to sort out and patch together the old friendship. I stretch out on my old bed, and wonder at how it feels so strange to be back in the Koneko, and yet somehow, completely right.

**A/N:**_ I hate this chapter. Thank you, that is all. Sorry for the long wait. -glaube_


	7. Put Your Hands on My Skin

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title. This chapter title comes from Madonna's Ray of Light album; the track called Skin. It's the one where she tries to go techno.

_Sorry... update delays are getting longer and longer ;_; I'm running low on creative genius, so I'm thinking of starting a Brad/Schuldig focused fic to otherwise occupy my mind -- sometimes a distraction helps. Lemon's at mediaminer; link's at the bottom. No KxO; so don't go there if that's what you're expecting. ~_~;_

**Karma Police: Chapter 7: Put Your Hand on My Skin **

::Youji's POV::

I watch the blood slowly filter out of my vein and into the small tube Birman is holding -- like I told Ran, I am going to let Omi test me for traces of the Lethe drug before they go on the mission tonight; and if I'm positive, I'll take the antidote and during the evening Ran will watch over me as, hopefully, my memory restores itself.

Birman insisted that she be the one to draw my blood; and she was a little harsher with the needle than Ran would have been after I made some wry comment about how sweet it was of her to take care of me. Upon reflection, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. She slaps a band-aid on and hands the tube to Manx; who mutters something that sounds like "Thirty minutes," before they both leave. Probably taking it back to a local lab.

**::Ran's POV::**

Someday, modern medicine will have advanced to the point where if there's something wrong with you, you'll know in two seconds. I think I might go crazy waiting for thirty minutes to find out if Youji was actually brainwashed. Ken and Omi are preparing for the stakeout, and I guess Youji must have sensed my impatience, because he moves to stand behind my chair, slender fingers beginning an intense massage on the tense muscles of my shoulders.

"What's the matter, Ayan? I always thought you were the calm, patient one?" He asks from behind me, voice smug, before leaning over to kiss the back of my neck. I reach for his hands and slowly pull him around to the front of the chair and onto my lap.

"I've never been patient with you, Yotan." I growl, and our lips meet in another searing kiss. Various types of petting ensue before a cough sounds from the door. Manx? Birman? I check my watch. 28 minutes and thirty seconds. They're early, and I tell them so. Manx rolls her eyes, tossing her red hair over her shoulder as she hands the test results to Youji.

"Test positive."

**::Youji's POV::**

"Test positive."

Well, fuck; there's quite a difference between planning on taking an experimental drug and actually being faced with the fact that you're going to take it. I glance up at Ran, whose gaze is somewhat comforting, in that it reminds me why I made this decision in the first place. I feel a confident grin sliding back into place as I hold my arm out for Manx and wink at her.

"Stick me, babe. I hope it's a good trip."

OW! Jesus, I should really stop pissing them off. Touchy women. Ran lets out an amused snort when Manx does exactly what I asked and really sticks it to me, the needle and its drug sinking into my arm, shooting through my vein like fire.

And suddenly, I feel very sleepy and more than a little goofy. I look up at Ran and run a hand on his cheek.

"Nn...kitten...have I ever told you you're beautiful?" I ask, and wonder why my words are slurring together. In fact, he's looking a little blurry. This feels a lot like being drunk, and I have the feeling that I know a lot about being drunk.

"Like a flower...you know, a rose...a dark red one...beautiful and.."

Well I guess he's had enough of that, scooping me up as he stands from the chair.

"Oooh...that eager, Ayan?"

I tease, and he takes me to my room and deposits me on the bed, before turning for the door.

"Eh.....Where are you going?" I ask, highly disappointed that he's not staying to screw my gorgeous self; but before I can finish the sentence I have literally blacked out and am lost to my memories.

**::Omi's POV::**

I step out of my room in time to see Aya coming down the hall.

"Youji tested positive. We administered the drug and he's passed out in his room." The redhead informs me; and I nod, heading to the living room to wait for Ken. When he doesn't come out right away I get up and head down the hall, knocking tenatively on his door. When I receive no answer I step inside cautiously, catching sight of Ken staring at himself in his mission gear in the mirror. He hears me come in and his eyes flicker over to my figure in the mirror's reflection; a sort of indirect eye contact that doesn't require him to turn around. His eyes are dry now but I can tell he's been crying.

"Ken...if you change your mind.." I begin, steeling myself to the fact that he's going to leave again; and I'll be alone. I was foolish to allow my hopes to return.

"No."

He says firmly, and this time turns around to face me, extending his arms to his sides.

"I shouldn't have left in the first place, Omi. Forgive me?"

He asks, and I go to him, as we share a friendly hug; like so many other friendly hugs. Never anything more than that, though; no matter how much I wished otherwise. I shoot him a small smile.

"Ne, Ken-kun, you know I'd never stay mad at you." I say and he grins.

"Feh, Omi, you've grown up on me. Drop the -kun and I swear I'll never call you Omittchi again."

"And chibi?" I ask, hopefully. "Promise."

"I swear." He vows seriously, and I grin back at him. "Deal, Ken."

We shake on it like old friends and head out for the stakeout.

**::Ran's POV::**

Manx and Birman have left for the night and I'm flopped out on our couch reading when Ken and Omi come out of the hallway, acting like old friends once again. I'm glad, although I'll never show it or tell them so. In fact, when they tell me they're leaving, I give them only my favorite word (or is it a syllable? The debate continues..) for a reply.

"Hn."

They share an amused glance over my return to one word/syllable answers and head out the door. Ken's motorcycle fires up and they head off into the distance to hunt the dark beasts of the world. Or so they'd like to think. I've never held that idealistic a view of my job, and neither did Youji. For me it was about money and revenge; money to keep Aya-chan alive, and revenge for my family. Youji's enough of a realist to know that there is no straight line between black-and-white. We waltz in the gray area, for that is the hand that has been dealt to us.

Speaking of Youji, I hope he's still not acting drunk. I decide to check on the lazy bum and head to his room, where, much to my surprise, the blond is sitting up in bed, eyes filled with tears. I immediately move to go to him, intending to take him into my arms and try to make everything better, but he stops me, a hand flat against my chest, and green eyes meet mine.

"We fought."

He says, and I take a seat on the edge of his bed, settling for taking one of his hands in mine. He's not talking about any little squabble. He's talking about the fight. I nod reluctantly.

"Yes, Youji. We did."

**::Youji's POV::**

"Yes, Youji. We did."

Of all my memories; I think that was the worst. I had already dealt with my memories of Asuka before my 'amnesia' so regaining them was not nearly as painful as one might suspect. The fight with Ran; the real fight, when we were trying our damndest to kill eachother, that was the worst. He sighs.

"I told you that you wanted to forget."

He murmurs, voice full of regret. "The truth is, Youji, that nobody can handle this job without going insane. We didn't fight because we hated eachother. We fought because we loved eachother so much it hurt. We lost sight of what was important."

"I know."

I say quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too. I understand if you want me to leave." Says Ran, who slowly releases his hold on my hand, and begins to stand. He has the expression of a dying matyr; the expression of a man who will weep to himself once he's alone. Gods, he's going to cry.

"No."

I say firmly, and pull him down to me, my lips meeting his in a soft kiss, a silent apology for everything. For the fight; for all the times I came home late and upset him; for forgetting. Pulling away, I shoot him a sly smile.

"Are the others gone?"

"Do you always think about sex?" He retorts, and I grin.

"You're the one who brought it up." I murmur, and our lips meet again, but softly; this isn't about need or want -- it's different. I stare up at him as slender digits work to remove my pants; my own fingers going to work on his.

"I love you, Ran."

**::Ran's POV::**

The words take me by surprise as I stare down at the gorgeous man beneath me before giving him a small smile in return, stopping in what I'm doing to caress his cheek.

"I know, Youji."

I used to have trouble telling him how I felt; I just assumed that between the kisses and the sex and my concern, that he knew. And he did. But that was before I didn't get to hold him for months; when I always assumed I'd have a chance to tell him. Now I'm not stupid enough to take tomorrow for granted.

"I love you too."

He smiles softly; and then begins to chuckle a little. I stare down at him, and before I can ask, he explains.

"That's the first time you've ever told me."

I press my lips to his collarbone, murmuring my reply against warm flesh.

"No, Youji. I've always told you. Just not in words."

His reply is to raise my chin for another kiss. **::Youji's POV::**

My fingers slip out of Ran's mouth; any traces of what we've just finished gone, and I curl against him with a sigh of happiness.

This is the life I have chosen. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

**::Ken's POV::**

Nothing. Absolutely nothing tonight; except Omi and I sitting in absolute, uncomfortable silence, on a rooftop overlooking the Kreiger factory where Lethe is stored. Since leaving the Koneko, neither of us has said a word, and I've been mulling on the ride that got us here -- my bike is parked in an alley a few blocks away.

It felt so good to have his arms around me for those few moments; strong and youthful arms, his chest against my back as we leaned forward and sped through traffic. Youji's the only other one who's ever ridden on my motorcycle; Aya always called it a death machine. But he never did any of that. It wasn't really necessary. I glance over at Omi out of the corner of my eye and I have to wonder if he returns the feelings I've kept quiet about for all these years, afraid to ruin our friendship. He catches me staring at him, though.

"Something bothering you, Ken?"

"N-no.." I say, entirely too quickly. Omi frowns and returns to gazing at the warehouse. No, nothing's wrong, Omi; I'm just thinking about how much I'd like to kiss you and do all sorts of things that shouldn't be allowed between someone like myself and someone as innocent as you.

Although I have to stop lying to myself. You're not innocent; you certainly have grown up in the months I've been away. You're not a child and not an angel, just a very, very attractive young man.

I told you Weiss was driving me crazy; and that's true. But its more truthful to say that I ran away from what really scared me the most; my feelings for you. I used to think it was like an older brother feeling. Because I'd always be there for you and protect you and beat the living shit out of anyone who made you sad. But older brothers don't have wet dreams about younger brothers with gorgeous blue eyes so that option's out the window. You never got it, did you; how close to crazy you'd make me if one of your oversized t-shirts slipped off a slender shoulder..

Gah. I'm on a friggin mission. I need to stay focused. You elbow me.

"There they are."

I nod. "Let's go."

This is my second chance; coming back to Weiss, even if it's for Ichiro's sake. I'm going to tell him.

**A/N:**_Fanservice for the long wait can be found here: _

**More notes to my reviewers; of both fanfiction.net and mediaminer.org:  
Inori Sakura: I'm more active on ff.net than mediaminer; the updates are MUCH, MUCH faster, when they do come; on ff.net. But thanks for your kind review; and my grammar sucks ;_; .. I write all of this spur-of-the-moment and don't really check it for errors. Glaube is a lazy bum. ^_^;**

Kenzan: Haha; you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? *cackles* I don't like writing KxO as much; because Kudoh's my favorite. But for you, I shall struggle onward.

Chibi-chan v.2.0: Man(or woman =P), You've really stuck with this fic and had tons of supernice comments. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the continued encouragement; especially when I feel like I'm in a writing slum and you still think it's decent. ^_^; THANKS SO MUCH!

Honoo Moeru: You've stuck around, too, and your continued support rocks the house. GO SEE THE LAST SAMURAI. NOW. PRONTO. OR I WON'T WRITE STUFF. Yeah. x_X! lol.

fan of story: Alright, don't really know who you are, but I'm glad you like the style. It's a little tough, but I'm glad I stuck with first person -- otherwise you get too many "his and him"'s in there and the description goes a little off. For me, anyway. I might try something different on my next fic.

Dreamwriter613: Thanks so much. I'm not as familiar with Gluhen as I am with the rest of the series so it's been a bit of a struggle. I'm glad you like. ^_^ Makes me smile!

mystic shadow dragon: Don't worry, I will.

Vampire Louis: You would think I wouldn't be as bogged down with school, because I backed off on my classload this year. Getting ready for college is a little rough though. Too many auditions....baaa....music... x_X;

mangababe and babaca: Hope you guys are still with me T_T... let me know if I'm screwing up. lol.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT -- click the review button to see a picture of Youji nake---okay, not really, but click it anyway. ^_^  
-glaube 


	8. A Good Mistake

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Chapter 8: A Good Mistake **

::Omi's POV::

I could have sworn that Ken was staring at me earlier. Dismissing it as impossible I quickly turn to focus back on the mission; and when I see our two targets leave the warehous I quickly inform Ken. We head back down to the motorcycle and follow their car away; I take the time to call Aya and Youji, hoping that they're not busy screwing eachother and actually stop to answer the phone.

They do. Or Aya does, that is, and I can hear Youji close in the background. Which means they've probably already had sex. I expected about as much from Youji but I've never quite gotten used to the idea of Aya sleeping with anything. I honestly and truly believed the man was asexual for a really, really long time -- that whenever he felt the need to reproduce, there would just be little Aya-clones everywhere after he copied himself. Anyway. So I told Aya; and slipped on some glasses -- you know, the type with the camera on the bridge of the nose. It'll help me map out or attack on our primary target later.

I love riding with Ken on the motorcycle because it gives me the excuse to do things I'd never have the courage to attempt otherwise: put my arms around him; rest my head against his back as we lean forward, etc. They're dangerous vehicles, and if anyone asks, I'll just admit that I'm afraid of falling off. They'll laugh at little childish Omi and I'll be free to pursue my hobby -- holding onto Ken on the motorcycle, that is. But such bliss is shortlived, as we always eventually arrive at wherever we're going. For example, our target's car slows down in front of a tall office building downtown. We pass the building, speeding right by as they park and get out; but the flyby is enough to tell me that they've got some pretty well-armed security guards by the main entrance. Damn. I don't like killing security guards. They're not evil. They're just guys who needed a job.

We park a few blocks away and Ken and I decide to split up -- I head to the back to try to find another way in and he goes around front. We're not really planning to fight -- tonight's about information retrieval anyway.

**::Aya's POV::**

"Omi thinks they've found Kreiger's HQ."

I tell Youji, who's reclined sleepily against my chest as I hang up the reciever. He doesn't bother opening his eyes.

"I know. I heard."

Murmurs the blond lazily, and I fondly run my fingers through his hair.

"Go to sleep, Youji."

"Aye, Cap'n."

**::Ken's POV::**

Four guys with guns at the main entrance and another two past the glass doors, which require a security card of some sort. Omi can hack that, I'm sure. Omi can hack anything.

It's a shame we can't get further in today -- if we attempt a mission here it's going to be tough to find the targets in about twenty floors of skyscraper.

"Hey you!"

Yells one of the guards when I walk by for another time, across the street. Well crap. I don't want to turn things into a confrontation. Better pull a Youji. I stagger over to them, blinking a little, and shoot them what I hope is a good impression of a drunken grin. 

"Eh, chaps. D'you think you could gimme dire...*hic*...dire....could ya point me in the dire....could you tell me where the nearest bar is?"

I slur, patting one of them on the back with another grin.

"Dude...is that a real gun?"

I ask. They roll their eyes. Mission accomplished. 

"Get out of here before we call the cops."

I blink and stagger backwards, saluting.

"Aye, Cap'n."

Time to go check on Omi. And about that time gunshots ring out.

Oh. Shit.

**::Omi's POV::**

Ken insisted on taking the front entrance in the hopes that it would be easier for me in the back. He's always done stuff like that. Unfortunately, the back courtyard is sealed up by a pretty tall wire fence, and if I want to see anything I'm going to have to scale it. Don't get me wrong; climbing these things is a piece of cake, I was just hoping for something, well, easier.

I scale the wall and hop over, sneaking towards the back doors. The first two guards don't notice me, and I smile in triumph. No confrontations tonight, baby. Piece of cake. And then I step on a twig.

The two guards closest turn around and I'm hit with the beams of their flashlight.

"Hey kid! What the hell --?"

I hold back my rage. I'm NOT a FUCKING KID!

The other one yells intruder, and pretty soon I've got four of the jerks trying to corner me. Well I'm not about to let that happen; Kreiger's not going to capture Kritiker's Persia. So I do the most logical thing that comes to mind -- take off running, and that's when they shoot.

You learn after a while that it's best to run in random patterns rather than a straight line when people are shooting at you; so none of their shots do major damage -- I think one clipped my leg as I ran but that was about it. And here comes Ken, leaping over the fence. Crap. As he flies over he lands on the nearest guard and throws one of his gloves, claws extended at the other guy approaching, retrieving it from the body. I'm so busy watching him that I haven't paid attention to the other two -- and another shot goes off.

"OMI!"

Ken yells, and he dives in my path.

No.

This is not supposed to be happening.

No. Ken. No.

Before I know what I've done two darts have downed the remaining guards although I can tell that the guys from the front are on their way, judging by the yells and footsteps I hear. Ken rolls over; his shoulder's bleeding pretty badly. I help him over the fence and we take off down the street.

I don't even realize I'm crying until a few blocks later.

**::Ken's POV::**

Getting shot in the shoulder fucking hurts.

Not that I'm complaining -- as long as Omi's alive I'd take many more shots to the shoulder just to make sure he's not hurt. He's going to be pissed. He probably won't understand why I did it.

Controlling the motorcycle is a lot harder when one of your arms is pretty much out of commission with pain, so when we got to the Koneko, I parked it sloppily and then fell off.

Through a daze of pain (I had made the wise decision to fall on said injured shoulder) I heard Omi's cry of alarm. And then I passed out.

**::Aya's POV::**

My lazy bum of a lover fell asleep, and I left him in bed when I heard Ken pull up, planning on meeting them downstairs. What I didn't expect was Omi's frantic knocking and yelling through the door. When I opened it; I was even more surprised -- Ken'd been shot and Omi was doing his best to carry him. I moved out of the way to let Omi by, and held out my hands to take Ken from him, but blue eyes narrowed in determination.

"No. It's my fault he got shot and I'll take care of him."

"Hn."

Omi can be really scary sometimes.

I settled on the couch and watched the chibi struggle up the stairs under Ken's weight -- funny, if there's one thing I never thought I'd see, it'd be Omi, carrying Ken up the stairs. Apparently the noise woke up the sleeping dead, and by that, I mean Youji, because he came down next, in his boxers and my t-shirt, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What happened?"

He asked.

"Ken got shot."

I replied simply. Was he stupid? I thought it was pretty obvious. Youji shot me something of an amused glance, and I was baffled. What was funny about that? He leaned in for a quick kiss before heading up the stairs. My turn to ask questions.

"Where are you going?"

He glanced over his shoulder and shrugged, face a blank imitation of my own.

"Hn."

Replied the blond. I think he was trying to imply that I don't talk much.

**::Youji's POV::**

Well, Ran's great at picking up on the obvious, but when it comes to people's feelings, he's about as intuitive as a rock. Which leaves me to check up on Omi's mental and Ken's physical health. So I did, of course, trudging back up the stairs.

When I got to Ken's room the door was open; Omi bandaging the brunette's wound. Ken's eyes flickered but did not open and I watched in silence for a moment as Omi dressed the gunshot with extra care.

"How come you never told him?"

I asked calmly, smiling when Omi jumped at the unexpected sound of my voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Youji-kun." Omi said, and although the kid tried to hide it, I could tell he'd been crying and was nervous.

"Oh come off it, man."

I said lazily, trying to get him to relax.

"Everyone under the sun except for you and that baka there knows that you like Ken and Ken likes you."

He blinks.

"I don't think it works that way, Youji-kun. Ken would never like me back."

A tired voice comes up from the bed; apparently Ken's decided to open his eyes and let the boy know he's actually awake.

"No Omi...it does work that way."

Ah. Kudoh's work here is done. Time to go work on my iceberg..

**::Ken's POV::**

I was glad when Youji left us in privacy, taking a steadying breath.

"It works that way."

I reassured Omi, reaching out for his hand with my good one.

"I was just always afraid to tell you."

He launched himself at me and I refrained from grimacing in pain.

"Ken.."

"Yes, Omi?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Omi... but can I ask you a big favor?"

Those big blue eyes met mine and I shot him a little smile.

"Please get off of my shoulder."

The flurry of apologies that came afterward made me smile. Some things never change.

_Hm... approaching the end.. about three chapters left I think. ^_^ -glaube_


	9. This is What You Get

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Chapter 9: This is What You Get... **

::Youji's POV::

We spent the rest of the week letting Ken's shoulder get better and planning for our mission. You would think this would've been tricky, but surprisngly enough, it wasn't. God bless the media -- I'd been busy making out on the couch with Ran when the news came on, a pretty young lady in a suit announcing that Kreiger Corporation's CEO and Chairman had decided, in light of the recent attack on their HQ to retire to an undisclosed location.

Although I didn't realize it at the time, far too disappointed in the fact that Ran had abruptly stopped skimming his hands along my abdomen and trying to figure out what I had for lunch, this was good news -- it took a quick hack on Omi's part to narrow the "undisclosed location" down to the rest of Kreiger's holdings -- an apartment complex in Kyoto, which was a no, being public and generally unguardable; a hospital, for the same reasons, and ... what do you know... a warehouse.

Evil is entirely too predictable sometimes. So we were to go to the warehouse that evening, eliminate the guards, and destroy their stock of Lethe. Even better was the way Momo's worked instead of any of us in the shop.

The nice thing about planning weeks is that I'd gotten to spend an awful lot of time in Ran's room. Of course, I still think my sheets are more comfortable. But he insists he hates the mess.

Harsh words, said in an affectionate tone; that's my Ran.

**::Omi's POV::**

I woke up the morning of the mission deliciously sore in all the right places to the sound of Ken's soft, but unmistakable snoring. Youji teased me a few days after our last mission at breakfast about how I had started to sit like Aya-kun, earning him a sharp kick in the shin from Ken across the table and a sarcastic remark from our stony redhead about how Youji should probably shut up if he wanted to be able to sit at all. Youji'd winked at him and said, with that stupid grin of his, that he wouldn't mind. Even now I giggle at the memory.

Next to me, Ken shifts in his sleep, unconsciously drawing me closer, and I found myself pulled next to that smooth, tan chest. I admit; it's a temptation too hard to resist, and I ran my fingers over his skin, pressing a light kiss to Ken's collarbone. The mark from the bullet is still there, but it was a clean wound, healing quickly. Ken would be good to go by nightfall.

**::Ran's POV::**

Evening, and after dinner Youji waltzed upstairs and shut himself in the bathroom. For most people a shower is just that, a shower, for Youji, the damn things take at least an hour. By the time he gets out of there, either A) there won't be any hot water left for me, or B) there won't be any time for me to take a shower. This is completely unacceptable, and after twenty minutes of pounding on the door I returned to my room, calmly selecting my mission clothes, and helped myself into the bathroom, quietly undressing and folding both sets of clothes -- dirty and clean -- into neat little stacks on the counter. I can see his figure through the shower curtain, and he's singing, much to my amusement.

_Karma police, arrest this man.._

It's English, but I can understand some of it. The song is forgotten, however, when I step into the shower and meet his questioning look with a shrug.

"You take too long."

I murmur flatly, and Youji laughs. Once again I find myself wondering what is funny before he captures my lips in a searing kiss, and allows me to manuever him back against the shower wall.

I forgot to mention theory C) that if I joined him in the shower there was the possibility of some mind-blowing pre-mission sex. Possibility C, of course, had no bearing on my actions -- I'm far too rational to allow such things to taint my thinking.

Right.

**::Youji's POV::**

Ken and Omi both stared when Ran and I calmly stepped out of the bathroom into the hallway in full mission gear like absolutely nothing had gone wrong. Ran, in his 'mission-mode' shot them one of those trademarked death glares.

"What?!" He barked, and Ken snorted, holding back a laugh and trying to be serious. 

"Nothing." Replied the brunette, scrambling downstairs with Omi. I headed down in front of Ran, but for a moment, I could've sworn I saw him smile.

Simple enough mission, really; the four of us riding over there, parking the car a block away, kill the targets and blow shit up.

The warehouse complex consisted of four buildings, each of which we were supposed to handle -- assassination, wiring, explosion. If we came upon any building loaded with guards the plan was to call for help and take it out first.

Easy enough. When I slipped into my building the others didn't seem to be having any trouble; just one or two guards to be eliminated while they wired the Lethe to explode, setting them to the all-so-crucial hour of midnight.

My warehouse was empty. Bad sign.

"Guys.."

I started to murmur into the Comm, before I felt the cold metal of a gun pressed to my cheek.

"Stop right there." Insisted a female voice, and when I glanced up to look at her, I recognized the Chairman of Kreiger from TV.

"Ah, Mitsume-chan; we have company. As I expected." Well, fuck. "Bring him in." Said some man, whose voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"Sir..I don't think that's wise."

"I said to bring him in." Hissed the man, and I was shoved into the main room of the warehouse, blinking under the lights, face to face with Asuka...Midori's father.

"How poetic. My bastard son-in-law comes with his white knights to kill me." Sneers bastard, raising his own gun. A shot is fired.

Behind me, Mitsume falls to the ground. The shot's fatal, and Yuki Azuma sneers at her. "Sorry, babe, you were an okay fuck but you don't figure into my plans anymore."

The gun points at me now, and several guards step out of the shadows.

"You'll be coming with me, Shiro Ran. Or should I say Kudoh Youji?"

I hit the transmit button on my watch for our communicators.

"If you want my family name, you'd better say Balinese."

I say, shooting my would-be-murderer a grin. He wasn't amused; and gun's handle crashed into my head, leaving everything in blackness.

**::Aya's POV::**

"If you want my family name, you should say Balinese." I hear, crisply over the communicator, as I finished wiring the Lethe.

Followed by something of a sick thud and a dark chuckle.

"Balinese?" Omi's concerned voice rings over the Communicator, with no reply. But I'm already on my feet, darting out into the alley just in time to watch some fat guy in a suit haul my lover into a truck with four or so guards.

Shit. Are those machine guns?

I dove out of the way, rolling behind some trashcans as they all got in, but quickly got to my feet, ignoring the yells of Omi and Ken as they appeared from their respective buildings -- chasing after the damned truck on foot.

"YOUJI!!!!"

Some poor biker came by on his motorcycle, and before I knew what I was doing, I'd knocked him down and raced off after them.

Fucking bastards would pay for taking Youji again.

Omi and Ken tried to get my attention on the communicator; a distraction, pleading with me to take my time and come up with a plan to get Youji back. With a snarl I ripped the earpiece out and tossed in on the street.

I had a plan already: kill everything that wasn't Youji.

**::Omi's POV::**

Ken looked absolutely and totally discouraged as he stared at Aya's disappearing form, while I apologized to the biker who sat there cussing at both of us. Finally I had to slap the poor guy.

"Listen, man. This whole place is going to explode in about 10 minutes. So if you don't get the hell out of here you're going to be paint on the wall, understand?"

He never noticed the prick of the dart on his arm. Witnesses, unfortunately, are unacceptable.

Ken stared down at me, and I shot him a grin.

"Don't worry. I always have everyone bugged for missions. Think you can hotwire Aya's Porsche?"

He returned the grin, reaching over to mess up my hair fondly as I scowled at him.

"Fuck yeah. Let's get going."

  
_I :heart: my lovely reviewers for putting up with my writing in this fic...I try to write too rapidly, I guess, because I'm reading back over stuff and the tense still irritates me. Honestly, I think Chemicals Between Us is better and it's not as popular. But thanks for sticking around ^_^ One, maybe two chapters to the finish line, and then I'm going to write a one-shot prequel companion. The title of this chapter will make sense when combined with the next chapter (which has the rest of the phrase.) Hit that button. You know you want to. - glaube_


	10. When You Mess With Us

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Chapter 10: ...When You Mess With Us **

::Youji's POV::

I wake up with a splitting fucking headache and realize I'm in the back of a van, facing off with Midori's father and four of his guards, men with smug, satisfied smirks, pleased to know that they're safe with their machine guns, confident in their ability to kill anything.

I, however, am confident for other reasons.

Ran's going to come.

And he's going to slice them.

And I will laugh.

Azuma, whom I will herein refer to as fat bastard seems to notice that me being hauled off in a van unarmed with five guys who want to kill me doesn't have me as peturbed as he'd like.

"Well, well, boys...look who's awake...it's my precious son-in-law." He drawls, and I decide I don't like his tone of voice. 

"Hi pops." I say cheerily, and that earns me a swift, solid punch to the cheek from fat bastard's meaty fist.

"I don't know what you're grinning about, boy." He hisses swiftly, catching my chin in those greasy fingers, forcing our eyes to meet, and apparently still disappointed by my lack of fear. I don't care if I die because of Kreiger -- at least I'd die free of their drugs, knowing that I'd gotten a few precious moments with Ran back -- moments they had stolen from me. "You certainly won't be grinning when we're through with you." He adds, with a lecherous grin, and I definitely don't like the sound of that. Before Ran, Youji Kudoh was secure in his masculinity -- there is one and only one person I'll ever tolerate being the bottom for, and the fat bastard in front of me doesn't look anything like my moody, pale, mysterious, crimson-haired, amethyst-eyed sexy swordsman.

"There won't be enough of you left to be grinning when Abyssinian finishes with you." I tell him flatly, and it's the truth.

"My dear boy," says the sick fuck with his best imitation of one of my grins, cupping his hands around my face. "You stole my daughter's happiness, you killed her, and you've effectively destroyed my company. I know Abyssinian is coming." He leers, and the guard captain grabs my arms, yanking me up to my knees, and I realize that Azuma's undoing his belt. "In fact, I'm counting on it."

Weakly I break my arms free, enough to hit the comm. 

"ABYSSINIAN!! ABORT!!"

I scream, and unfortunately, having my mouth open gives Azuma the opportunity to do exactly what he wants.

I keep my eyes closed and hold back the urge to puke. Aya would never show an enemy any weakness; and neither will I.

**::Ken's POV::**

I've just finished hotwiring the porsche, since that bastard redhead took off with the keys, when Youji's voice screams loud and clear over the comm.

"ABORT!"

I look at Omi, and Omi looks at me. His blue eyes are wide, frightened, and sad. Fuck this, Kudoh -- anyone who's made Omi this upset's going to die. Period. And that includes you and Aya for going off the handle.

"Don't worry, Omi." I reassure him. "I'm not about to let them have all the fun."

He sniffles and smiles a little and as the porsche peels out, I reach over to pat his hand. Our fingers link and I can't help but hope that everything will turn out okay.

**::Aya's POV::**

Good thing I threw that communicator out on the street. I'm sure Omi'd be lecturing me and Ken yelling something about being stubborn by now. I hope someone runs the damn thing over; they're irritating as hell.

The van's not even trying to lose me, and I know the driver knows I'm on his tail. It's disconcerting, but I do my best to stay focused. The objective is Youji, and nothing will stand in my way.

It occurs to me that I know where we're going -- Midori Yuki's house, the one she lived in with Youji when he had no memories -- the residence of Shiro Ran. Fuck. I guess I should've put more thought into things when I saw the CEO of Kreiger, but Yuki's a common last name and Youji was licking my ear and ...

Well shit, no time for excuses now. I make a sharp right and accelerate, determined to beat them all there.

**::Youji's POV::**

I feel absolutely disgusting when Azuma finishes, resisting the urge to puke all of that revolting slime right back out my throat, and I roll away from him and the guard. Despite how bad my situation is I'm silently thankful it hasn't gotten any worse. Yet.

The window between the driver and the back of the truck slides open.

"Sir. We think Weiss has aborted as directed by Balinese."

Azuma scowls, quickly zipping up his pants with a frown, when the driver shoots us a look. It's not hard to figure out, and to clue him in even more I spit on the floor, specks of white flying everywhere. He seems disgusted. Good. When I get the chance I'll make his death painless.

"Take us in the back way." Azuma directs. "The guards will watch the premises while Seiji, Balinese, and I head inside."

"Yessir."

Fantastic. I don't even want to think about what sort of fun awaits me inside my own old house with these two sick fucks.

**::Aya's POV::**

Vans aren't known for their speed, and I whip the bike around the corner of the street and hop off, letting it slide into the alley where it crashes against the wall. I cover the rest of the distance to the house on foot, darting in and out of the shadows. This bastard doesn't know what's coming to him.

You don't mess with one of Weiss.

The Van pulls up out front and I can't help but smile at the poor fools exiting for the deaths. However, I'm vastly disappointed when only guards exit, and heavily armed guards at that, quickly spreading out to cover the premises. I sneak closer and listen to them talk to eachother.

"Objectives inside." One of them murmurs to the other. "Take the east side, Hijiri."

"Roger that, Takani. Hijiri out."

The other whispers. I watch 'Hijiri' take off and wait for the opportune moment, when Takani has his back to me, before I leap out of the bushes to impale him with my katana, crimson splattering on my face as I give it a cruel jerk and kick the corpse off my blade.

This has caught Hijiri's attention, and rather than wait for him to shoot me, I throw the katana in his direction with perfect aim, smiling in satisfaction at the sickening thud it makes in his skull. There are three others, of course, and I have to get my katana back to kill the CEO with.

Most people don't know, but I do carry a back-up weapon. In fact, I think I'm probably the only one practical enough in Weiss to have even thought of it, and so out comes the small pistol -- as I dive for cover behind a tree in the yard another guard goes down with two shots to the chest. They won't kill him immediately but I know they're fatal -- what can I say, with all the time perfecting the art of the katana, I've had little time to make my marksmanship quite as superb. It's enough to get the job done, though, and one of the remaining two guards goes to see if his friend will make it. I take my chances and roll back out onto the grass to retrieve my katana, firing another shot -- this one lands in the other guard's knee, and he goes down, his shots way off the mark because of the unexpected pain in his leg.

Really that means there's only one and a half of them left; the one injured is just prolonging his death by trying to crawl away. The other, whose friend with the chest wounds has probably just bit the dust, gets to his feet, shakily pointing his gun towards where I last dove for cover, letting lose a spray of bullets.

Moron. Trained assassins don't just hide out behind bushes until you shoot enough bullets at them to make them die. In fact I've already gone around behind them, silent, deadly, and the injured one tries to give his partner some warning when he sees me approaching them.

His cry is silenced when I slit his throat, and the last man standing whirls to face me.

You know what? I just want Youji back. I don't have time for a dramatic fight scene or some nice katana moves. So I just shoot the bastard and head towards the front door, taking time to wipe off the blood that litters my katana onto the grass. The neighbors lights have turned on, from the gunshots, and I estimate we've all got about five minutes before the police get here.

Five minutes. I will get Youji back by that time.

**::Youji's POV::**

The captain of the guards -- what was his name again? Seiji? Whatever, he hauls me up the stairs with Azuma on our heels towards the bedroom I used to share with "Asuka," Yuki Midori, the woman who lied to me. Both of them tense when gunshots ring out outside and Azuma snickers.

"Your boyfriend's dead, Balinese." He purrs, slipping off his jacket and starting to undo his shirt. I'm not stupid; after the previous events I knew what was next.

"No, Azuma." I reply calmly. "Your guards are dead."

He snarls and shoves me into the bedroom in a murderous rage of sorts, and I have to wonder what exactly his intentions are of bringing me here, of all places. The neighbors are going to call the police, he's going to go to jail. Yuki Azuma doesn't seem like the type of man who'd want that.

Although it doesn't bother me a bit, considering that the bastard's probably going to rape me, I hope he gets to go to jail -- in fact, I'd like to see him go to one in Mexico. Oh yeah, sure he's sizeable for a Japanese guy -- but wait until he meets some foreigners. Then we'll see how confident he feels about rape.

I've been doing my best to stay calm about all of this, but when Seiji forces me down to my knees as Azuma's fat hands take hold of my shoulders. The captain of the guards deals me a swift punch to the gut when I struggle, knocking all the breath out of me, and calmly works on removing my pants, while Azuma rubs the barrel of his pistol against my neck just to remind me that if I don't submit, I'm a dead man.

All I can think about is how Aya's going to walk in and see this and never, ever, want me again.

I think I'd rather be dead. I realize, numbly, that Seiji's hands are wandering where they shouldn't, and vaguely hear Azuma's voice telling him to be patient; that he can have me when he's done. I'd really rather be dead, so I continue my struggle, and Seiji has to hold me down. Everything afterwards seems to happen in slow motion -- Azuma prodding at my ass and about ready to complete all his plans when I heard the swift creak of the door -- thank God I never greased the damn thing like Midori begged me to -- a gunshot, and a scream from behind me that seemed a little too high in pitch. I looked up, surprised at the perfect, deadly circle in the center of Seiji's forehead, watching numbly as he fell backwards, and, no longer restrained, whirled around to see what had happened.

Aya, at the doorway, splattered with blood, a pistol in one hand, pointed at where Seiji used to have been, and missing a katana. But that might explain why Azuma's missing crucial parts of his anatomy as well as the scream, and I realize that the redhead must have thrown it.

Azuma's hands are shaking in shock when he reaches for his pistol, but Aya continues steadily forwards, picking up the other man's pants. He digs through Azuma's pockets as the coward raises his shaking hands and fires, an unsteady shot that Aya sidesteps, dropping the pants to reveal what he's been digging through them for -- my watch.

I can only stare in surprise as Aya releases the wire, and although it cuts his beautiful hands, he strings it around Azuma's neck, tying a swift knot as he retrieves his katana.

Turning around he faces my would-be rapist with an expression of barely controlled fury, an angel of death.

"This is what you get... when you mess with us."

He says calmly, and the katana sails through the air like a song, a smooth arc connecting with Azuma's head. My wire is released from the cut, and my father-in-law's head rolls across the floor as his corpse falls lifelessly to the ground. 

It's too much for me to handle, and I puke.

I didn't want Aya to come...I didn't want him to see.

I would rather be dead.

**::Aya's POV::**

I don't relish killing, really, I don't. I'm good at it, and it earns me enough money to support Aya-chan, but I don't enjoy it. There are two people I've enjoyed killing, however, and I'm not ashamed to admit it; two people whose deaths will cause me no remorse. Takatori's, of course, and now this -- Yuki Azuma, and I smile in satisfaction, wiping my sword off on his fat corpse.

Youji's shaking, sobbing, and puking all at the same time -- I've never seen him like this and don't know what to do, except that the sound of police sirens spurs me into action. I calmly sheath my katana and try to pull him to his feet, wanting to pull him in my arms and tell him everything's okay, but being held seems to be the last thing he wants. 

We have to get out of here somehow, and Youji's lost it. I have two options: the front window, which will get me to the tree and/or the porch, where the police will undoubtably show up; or the back window and an uncertain and long jump into an alley, where I still might not make it to freedom.

Well, it's better than the front window. So I open it and am surprised to hear the familiar sound of my beloved Porsche's engine ripping down the alleyway as Ken jerks it to a stop.

Wait a minute...I have my keys...that punk hotwired my car AND slammed on my brakes?! There's going to be hell to pay back at the koneko. But for now I'm glad they've pulled up, and, using Youji's watch, fix a line for us to slide down into the car. The wire cuts my hands...I don't know how he stands it.

I yank off my trenchcoat, using it to cover Youji's undressed state, because I know that he'd never want Omi or Ken to know -- never be able to stand their pity, and then I pull him close, leaping out and using the wire to slide down to the alley. Omi pulls us into the backseat and Ken peels out, as we flee into safety assumably seconds before the cops arrive.

Staring at the mess that is Youji next to me I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I had been a few seconds later.

Thank God I shot the guard.

I don't say a word to Ken or Omi and shoot them death glares to silence any questions, and when we get to the Koneko, I calmly gather Youji, whose shaking and sobbing has died out -- leaving him in a somewhat comatose, but awake and shocked state, and head upstairs.

"Where are you going?"

Omi asks, finally having gotten enough nerve to try to find out what's going on.

"Bathroom." I say in the ask-more-questions-and-I'll-kill-you tone of voice. Omi shrinks back and I head upstairs to the small room, kicking the door shut, and turning on the water for the bathtub.

A glance at Youji in the mirror tells me he's still crying, his eyes red, puffy, and dull, nothing like the beautiful, sparkling emeralds I love so much.

Shit.

I fill the bathtub with water and undress; and then pull my trenchcoat off of Youji. The action makes him start to shake again, presumably left-over shock or fear, and I do my best to reassure him. I'm sure my actions make no sense to him whatsoever, but I can only hope they'll get through to him in this temporary lapse of insanity.

Ignoring his sobs of protest I pick him up and step into the tub, slowly sinking into the water, and reach for the soap. Youji's crying begins to slow as I take my time in rinsing both of us off; sliding the shower doors shut and turning that on as well for good measure. I can only imagine how dirty he must feel; this is the only way I know of that will make him feel remotely clean again.

So I scrub away gently, soap and rag, soap and rag, letting the shower pelt down on us, as the water turns a pinkish hue from the blood that I had been covered in. I pull the drain but let the water run, until it filters back out to a clear color, continuing my actions until Youji's shaking comes to a stop. He places a hand over mine, stopping the soap, which has become a much smaller bar during all this time in the bathtub, and I realize we're both going to look like prunes when we get out.

"Stop."

**::Youji's POV::**

I was horribly frightened at first, when Ran took off his clothes and then removed the trenchcoat that had kept me covered, and perplexed when he put us both in the shower.

Numbly, although it took me a few minutes, I realized he wasn't going to do anything -- just gently cleaning me off, his hands and the soap suds erasing the traces of Azuma, the ghosts of Seiji's hands still replaying in my mind.

I must be awfully tainted for Ran to even bother doing this. I'm sure he's absolutely disgusted; hah. A shower. What a practical fucking solution.

I really wish I was dead, because my imagination's running wild, trying to convince me that Ran's not being practical, that his hands really are gentle, that he's trying to comfort me in his silent, stoic sort of way. But there's no way he'd still want me after what's happened, so I'll just save him the effort. I catch his hand, stopping the soothing ministrations.

"Stop."

And he does, and I hope that the pelting of the shower will hide my tears now -- because they'll be a new sort. Loss.

"I'll clean myself up." I murmur after a moment, hoping my voice doesn't sound as shaky as I feel. "And I'll bring your stuff in from my room. I know you won't want to be there anymore."

I expect a murmur of agreement, but instead I recieve a puzzled reply from the redhead. "What are you talking about, Youji?"

"DAMNIT RAN! DON'T LIE!" I scream, raking my fingers through my hair, turning to glare at him. There goes my imagination again, trying to convince me that the look the redhead is giving me now is the same one he's always given me. No. Things won't be the same again. I should stop hoping. "Don't you get it? The fucking bastard was going to rape me." My shoulders shake again, and I can't hold back the sobs that follow. "I...I had no control...I..I didn't want you to see...you can go...I'll understand."

I wouldn't want me, either, after what happened.

He shoots me a soft, reassuring smile, touching my cheek, and I can't help but flinch at the gentle caress. I'm not worthy.

"Lost your control, Youji?" He murmurs softly. "Then I'll give it back to you."

I have no idea what the hell he's talking about, and it surprises me when my neat-freak redhead -- you know, I really should stop thinking of him as mine -- he's going to leave any minute now, pulls open the shower door, the water raining out all over the bathroom, and fumbles around on the shelf for something. Lotion?

Oh, I get it, Ran. A farewell fuck. I guess I'm still enough of a whore to give you that.

((A/N: the fanfic will make much more sense from here on out if you go to mediaminer, search for Karma Police, and read the lemon. I still can't get the link to post correctly, dammit.))

**::Ran's POV::**

Well, I was hoping for something better than lotion, but this will have to do. When I spread the stuff on my hands, Youji stares at me for a moment and starts to face the other way. I reach out to stop him, smearing some lotion on his shoulder in the process, and he stares in surprise as I smear some of the mess onto my fingers, and then slowly work at his flaccid cock until it's prepared and hard.

Tears flow freely from his eyes when he realizes what I'm doing -- stretching myself.

Youji knows, he has to know, when it comes to _this,_ that I'm a virgin. He used to tease me about it.

"N..No..Ran, you.."He mutters, obviously fighting his dual desires to fuck me and to keep me away from the tainted piece of shit that he seems to think he's become. "No...Ran, I'm not --"

I cut him off, pressing a finger to his lips before I can hear him tell me he's not worthy, sitting up to bring our faces unbearably close.

"Youji; there isn't anyone in the world who I'd rather have." I admit, truthfully, wiping away the tears from his eyes, which only seems to undo him more. "You think you've lost your control. So I'm going to give you mine."

He wants to argue, I can tell. Stubborn bastard -- here I am, offering a sort of virginity on the plate and he's too determined to hate himself to want it. 

"I've already lost you once; and I'm not going to let _anything, or anybody, ever, take you away from me again. Understand? I love you, Kudoh Youji._"

He stares at me, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to repeat myself, and my mush tolerance meter is already off the charts.

"Ran...are you sure?"

"Just fuck me, you idiot." I muttered back with a wry grin, the sort of back-and-forth bickering that he'd be used to.

I could swear, that through the tears, I saw a hint of a smile, and with shaking hands Youji reached to grip the edge of the tub for support.

**::Youji's POV::**

...

"YOUJI...!"

One more thrust, and I followed suit, collapsing on top of him as the rest of the water drained out of the tub.

**::Aya's POV::**

I let my fingers run in soothing patterns along Youji's back until he wearily pulled out, and then brought my lips to his in a gentle, accepting kiss. Youji stared at me for a moment, then shot me a soft smile.

"Arigatou, Ran."

It was a smile so handsome I couldn't help but return it, threading my fingers through his beautiful golden hair, pulling him into a loose, and much to my delight, mutual embrace.

"Youji..I meant what I said..." I started solemnly, but he pushed a finger to my lips with a smile.

"Nothing." He murmured, and I nodded, repeating the word.

"Nothing. Ever. Aishiteru, Youji."

Our lips met again.

"Aishiteru, Ran."

We lay there for a few moments in silence, before Youji slowly sat up, reaching for the towels.

"You know... you already sit like you've got a stick up your ass. I wonder what the others are going to think now?" He murmured with that typical lazy smirk. Somehow, when I playfully slugged him in the arm and he pulled me back in for another kiss, I knew everything was going to be okay.

FIN. 

  
**The lemon is here: http: // www. mediaminer. org / fanfic / view_st.php / 52666   
Take out the spaces and the link should work. T_T**

_Holy cow. Long chapter. To clarify, "This is what you get when you mess with us" is a line from the Radiohead song Karma Police, after which this fic is named -- my intention was to name this chapter that lyric, but I decided it was too long, so I split it between chapters 9 and 10. But it's complete, mostly, excluding the epilogue, which will tie things back together nicely (since I left Omi and Ken out for most of this chapter, you know). Anyway -- tell me what you think, and if you notice any lose ends, leave notes so I can address them in the Epilogue! :heart: - glaube_


	11. The End is the Beginning is the End

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, but I do own Calico. And Youji and Ran own eachother, respectively. ^_^ The song Karma Police is by radiohead, and I was listening to it while I got this shindig started, so thus the title.

**Karma Police: Epilogue: The End is the Beginning is the End **

::Ran's POV::

It's been two weeks since our last mission, and I'm sitting outside watching Ken wash my porsche. Yohji, sitting next to me on the steps of the Koneko, tilts his head over to rest on my shoulder and I can't help but smile. He's almost entirely back to normal; an ocassional nightmare marring his sleep sometimes -- but I can almost always calm him down.

"Yo! Kenken! You missed a spot!" Cheers the blond from next to me, watching Ken hose down the porsche.

Ken tried to argue with me when I told him his punishment for hotwiring the car was getting to wash it, once a week, for a month. He said it was useful, that his arrival in the alley had probably saved Kritiker a lot of trouble since he kept us from possibly being caught by the police.

I snorted. Fujimiya Aya, Abyssinian, caught by the police? Not bloody likely. Even Omi, or should I say Persia, attempted to get his boyfriend out of the punishment, turning those big blue eyes on me with a boyish pout as he helped Ken plead his case.

This was fruitless, because, number one, Omi's eyes don't really do it for me. Sure, they do it for Ken, but I've got Youji and that's enough melting for my quota. And number two, there are three, maybe four things in my life that nobody's allowed to mess with: Yohji, my sister, my porsche, and my katana. So Ken's washing my car, and Yohji's harassing him.

"Fuck you, Yotan." Snarls Ken, and I can tell he's thinking about turning the hose to spray us.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you, Ken." I murmur calmly, and the brunette shoots me a lopsided grin. Damnit.

"Or what?" He asks, and soon the droplets of water are pelting Yohji and myself.

"Gonna make me wash your car for another month?" Asks Hidaka, after Yohji and I are thoroughly soaked.

"Damn straight." I growl, moving to stand up, fully intending to kill the stupid soccer player, when lanky arms wrap around me in a loose restraint.

"Mm...play nice, Ran." Murmurs Yohji into my ear, lips brushing the earlobe. Maybe I'm wrong but I can't help but think that the blond seems amused and must be finding all of this funny. My theory is proven correct when Yohji turns me around, chuckling a little.

"What's so funny, idiot?"

I ask, eyes narrowing. That only serves to make Yohji laugh more, and he leans in, lips unbearably close to my own.

"You." Replies my blond, whose grin turns into more of a seductive smirk, one that I'm extremely familiar with. I can't say I mind. He leans in closer, keeping his voice down. "You look entirely too good dripping wet to be angry."

"Perv---!" Well, I was going to call him a pervert, but then the stupid idiot just had to go and kiss me.

And as I've said before, Yohji's an extremely talented kisser. Distantly I think I heard Ken yell for us to get a room.

Yohji shot back with a quick, "Like you and Omi are any better," which made Ken turn about as red as my hair. "C'mon, Ayan. I'll come help you get out of those wet clothes." Teases the blond.

Yes. Yohji is definitely back to normal.

**::Ken's POV::**

Over the past two weeks I've had to wash Aya's car twice because I hotwired it, but Omi and I have made a habit of dropping in to visit Ichiro. After the mission with Kreiger was over, I told him the whole story, and Persia was kind enough to give me a mission to slip the antidote into Ichiro's medication up at the hospital. He's back with his parents now and we meet him on the afternoons with some of my other soccer kids to work with them in the park. It's like having the best of both worlds: Omi and soccer.

I wasn't exactly thrilled by Omi's decision to retire Bombay and return to his position as Persia, because it meant he'd move back out of the Koneko. It worked out surprisingly well, though, because Persia's relocated all of us, Manx and Birman included, to Calico's division -- no more killing, it's more like espionage. And spies are always cool in those American movies so I figure it's pretty good buisness.

As Persia, Omi's got an apartment of his own, a suite, guarded by Kritiker's lackeys, and I've been thinking about moving out of the Koneko to stay with him. Aya and Youji would have to handle the Koneko on their own, but it wouldn't be the end of the world, and we'd all have our privacy.

I watch with a smile as Omi lets Ichiro steal the ball from him and fakes a moan of disappointment when the little boy scores. He checks his watch and ruffles the kid's hair, fondly.

"You're way too good for me to beat, Ichiro." Omi says with a smile. "But we have to get going. See you next week."

Their blue eyes meet, and Ichiro smiles. Omi, Mamoru, Persia; whatever, he turns back to look at me and I grin at him like the idiot I am.

I think I will move into that apartment, actually.

Omi's pleased with my decision and agrees to come back with me to the Koneko to get my things -- he sends his guards back to his office in the car and gets on behind me on the motorcycle. Our helmets are wired for the radio, and as we take off down the street, I hear the last chord of some American song fade away, in a refrain of relief.

_Phew, for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself..._

  
_And this is really the end. Completen! My next fic probably won't be WK, because I want to write an A+M fic for Rurouni Kenshin (het, guys, het.) Anyway if you like that stuff, that's what's going to be up next. And now; notes to my loverly reviewers. ((MM.org and FF.net, b/c I'm lazy))_

**Honoo Moeru: And there you have it. The results of Ken hotwiring Aya's Porsche. ^_^ Thanks so much for your support. It really means a lot, that you've stuck with this thing from start to finish. *grin***

Kylie Norris: My mad writing skillz, eh? Say skizzles, instead, it makes me smile. Thanks for your reviews and support! Hey... that's MY Yohji plushie! Give it back! kekeke.. (reffering to your chapter 8 review, that is) =P 

Crescent Quetzalcoatl: There's no way that I'm the best... there's so many other people whose fics I love. (which reminds me, at some point I'm going to put my favorites up, so everyone can see stuff that's better than mine. Anyway...) I'm glad you really liked it though; hopefully I can keep improving!

Kenzan: Of course Ken and Omi admitted their love for eachother. I haven't seen a fic yet where the characters don't in the end. *smiles* K+O aren't my favorites but I'm glad you liked how they came out anyway, and glad that I stuck it out. Thanks for your support!

Inori Sakura: Most of my updating is done on ff.net; I used mm.org b/c it still allows the NC-17 rating and I want to respect ff.net's rules. Glad you liked it!

Deunank: Can you keep a secret? I'm not so interested in K/O either. lols.. Yohji and Ran are my favorites.

Ziggy Stardust: Absolutely -- Yohji and Aya have awesome chemistry, and as the two older members of WK it just makes sense. I realize I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but thanks sooo much for the favorite. :) Check out ff.net, I tend to update faster on it. T_T; gomen. 

(to everyone else, I believe I replied to you in earlier chapters. Thanks for your support and encouragement - it's meant the world to me and really helped me keep cranking this baby out.) 

I :heart: you guys! -glaube. 


End file.
